Scratching & Clawing
by Babycakes Nast
Summary: A young woman finds herself fighting for her life once again but this time the threat seems much more worse than before. Starting off alone, she ends up having to scratch & claw her way through to survive. Luckily she won't have to do it alone when she meets a lone sheriff in search for his family. And maybe the road for survival won't be so lonely anymore. Daryl/OC
1. Prologue

__**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Except my OC. **

_To the person who finds this letter,_

_My name is…I don't see why you should know this but call me JJ. If you're reading this, it's because I'm probably dead and this letter is hanging onto my rotting corpse…or it might be lying there on the seat of my car. Don't try to steal it…it broke down. There's plenty of fuel left in it but you might find the need to repair it. With no repair it's, obviously, useless. _

_I'm writing this with hope to be remembered by someone. Or for someone to at least know I was there. That I was like them...fighting to survive but that I simply did not make it. I ran out of hope as I'm writing. I'm sitting here in my car on a suburban-looking street, doors are locked and it's a very quiet day, surprisingly. _

_I'm currently wondering if I should write to you about who I was or actually end this letter, more like a note, here and try to find a place to stay at for a couple of days. Big decisions in a dying world. There is no way I would survive…guess I really am a pessimist, huh? _

_I was here on vacation. A wedding. My aunt's wedding. Well, that was part of it. Three days for the whole wedding celebration and then I had planned at trip around the states. A good old trip around the United States of America. Something I hadn't done in almost fifteen years. I was excited and I had a good reason to be. I had just finished school, I had gotten a job, I was finally healthy and my family was happy, and that really mattered to me. My family. What they thought of what I wanted to do. They had been my support pillars for many years…well, obviously, they were my parents. But they had been so much more than just "my parents." They are my reason for wanting to live. The reason why I have been fighting for the past month. The reason why I was able to pull through. And here I was, about to give up. Give up on them. _

_The smiles they gave me before I left were still clear memory in my mind. I still remember the day I left in my car and them waving at my car. I could remember they smiles and my mom's tears through the window before I started my car. My dad leaning as I rolled the window down for him. Him smiling at me as he made sure to get there safe. I smiled, stroked his cheek than waved. And that was it. _

_For many years I hung unto dear life, scratching and clawing at my enemy that had invaded my body. It was a struggle every day to fight against something you had fought before. I had almost given up hope when it came back. I remember how I was laughing at myself sitting in that bed thinking, "Here we go ag-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of bones breaking. The sound itself was not unknown to her but dreaded. She did not dare to lift her head up as the pen fell with a thud on the floor of her car. She had frozen up. She felt the lump in her throat go down and her heart beat much faster than it did before. Her right hand immediately flew to grab her gun resting on the passenger seat as her left one slowly opened the car door. It felt as though her body flew out of the car to find its place steadily on the concrete. Her eyes scanned the area as she found herself looking for the noise that had her worried.

But the streets were empty. A few pieces of newspaper flying here and there, bodies lying around, empty bags, open doors to empty houses…nothing bizarre. Well, not in this new world. She took a few careful steps into the empty street, her eyes continuing to scan the area. She tried keeping her breathing as steady as she could while holding her gun, ready to aim if anything happened. She had to remember one thing. _Four bullets. _It was all she had left. She knew that technically she had three bullets left…the last one being for her she had decided. The thought of putting a bullet through her own dead made her body shudder in fear.

"You! There!" Thought interrupted but this time by the deep shaky voice of a man. She whipped her head around, her body following suit, and aimed at the man. He instinctively reached for his gun but then his eyes fell on the bandage on her arm. "You bit?"

"What?" She found herself asking. An angry sigh escaped the man's lips as he nodded towards her. "Are you bit?! The bandage on your arm, girl!"

Her eyes fell to the bandage on her arm. She shook her head as her eyes found their way back to the man's figure. "A guy tried to steal my car. I fought him for it."

"That man you talkin' about…he dead or alive when you fought him?" The man asked as JJ snorted at the question. This man did not believe her story.

"The man I'm talking about died by my own hands because he tried stealing my car!" She said as she slowly put the gun down. "Come on…I'm just a girl trying to survive…"

He looked at her, "What's your name, girl?"

"JJ. Nothing else." JJ found herself looking over the man's looks. He was African-American and taller than her. He was threatening from where she stood. He was definitely willing to defend himself even if it meant killing her. The silence was killing her, almost making her heart jumping out of her chest.

He smiled very slightly, "Well, JJ…today is your lucky day. If you get your things fast enough…you might have somewhere to sleep tonight."

She bit her lower lip, "Why should I trust you?"

"I haven't killed you." He answered back.

"Yet."

She looked at him then smiled as he did the same. She did not trust often but she knew when to trust. Except when in love. There was no place for it in this world. But she knew, somehow, she could trust this man. And if her instincts, god forbid, failed her then she didn't want to know. This was probably the only chance to survive she had. And she had to take it even if it meant she was to live only a little while longer. They walked slowly to her car. The man still had his weapon in his hand, which made her uneasy. She only had one bag left and that's all she could carry. She grabbed it and closed the trunk of the car then turned around to face the man.

"You never told me your name…" She mumbled as they walked down the street.

He smiled, "Morgan. Just Morgan."

* * *

**This is my fourth Fanfic. All of my stories are unfinished but I am trying. I am. They're going slowly but surely are advancing. Lately my obsession is The Walking Dead. I'm not very good at writing I believe but I am looking to improve. I am now in a English College and I am trying to improve my english. And I hope that this story will be it. The one to help me improve. **

**I don't really know where this story will go but it will be a Daryl/OC story. Eventually. I plan on taking it slow but I do hope to post a chapter per WEEK if I'm not overwhelmed by homework. If they will be short or long chapters, I have no idea. **

**I really want to make this believable so this will be going slow, very slow. I do hope you enjoy it.**

**:) Please constructive comments only, no bashing! Reviews will make me go faster obviously :) xx**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own TWD, only my OC. **

Scratching

Clawing

**Chapter 1**

"Under the wise man's eyes"

Sleep. She had finally slept a full night for the first time in almost two weeks. She didn't need to worry about Morgan at all. Once she discovered he had a son, Duane, she knew he was the protective kind. The kind that would not hurt her unless she'd attempt to hurt his son, which she had no intention of doing at all. This whole new way of living always seemed odd to her. They had been very welcoming towards a total stranger and she couldn't appreciate it more than this. She remembered walking down the street with Morgan the day before with a sense of relief. She had been saved, once again. She had been lucky. She hated that word. _Luck. _It wasn't luck. It was her fighting for her life. She almost gave up but Morgan had saved her from giving up. He didn't need to know that.

She was walking around the house as her steps made the floor crack under the pressure. The sound wasn't too loud. At least, it wasn't loud enough to bring the walkers right to the house. She had learnt the term from Morgan. _Walkers. _She called them brainless freaks for the past month but walkers could do too. Not that she particularly cared about them, the walkers, but she knew that they had once been human just like her. They once had feelings. They once had a family that cared about them and if some were still alive, well, they probably still cared. JJ understood that. Hell, she wished her parents still cared that she was out there even if she knew there was a possibility that they thought she had turned into one of the walkers. That she was gone. The thought made her sad. She may never see her family again. She had spoken to her mother the day the power at her hotel, and pretty much everywhere, was cut. She could remember calling out her mother's name for a few seconds before throwing the phone into the wall of her hotel room. It had been the worst feeling she had ever felt.

JJ was waiting for Morgan. He had been out since early morning but had not told her the reason of his outing. He had taken Duane with him. She didn't understand that part but never asked. She was a guest and had no right to butt her nose into his business. He simply asked her to hold the 'fort' and if any walker tried coming into the house, whatever way it may try, she simply had to get rid of it by smashing its head. Morgan had been strict on that rule. No guns unless it's absolutely necessary. He had given her a baseball bat and she hoped that she wouldn't have to use it.

* * *

The day was well on its way and it would soon be dark and, if she had calculated right, Morgan and Duane would soon come back and it was probably a good idea for her to try and cook something for them. She wasn't the housewife type but she sure was proud to say she knew how to cook at least.

She was slowly walking towards the kitchen when she heard Morgan's voice telling Duane to open the door. JJ ran to the door when it finally opened and she could see Morgan struggling, along with Duane, to bring the unconscious, or dead, body of a man inside the house. The man wore a hospital robe, which was very odd knowing, thanks to Morgan, that the hospital had be overrun by walkers. She slowly backed up the wall then closed the door behind the both of them once they had finally brought the man in the house. She had no time to ask questions because Morgan had ordered her to help him carry the body up the stairs into another room. When she went to grab for him she noticed blood on the side of his head. Not daring to ask questions, she simply helped Morgan carry the man up.

Once in the room they had let the body fall with a thump on the bed. She stared at the man for a few seconds. He couldn't be over the age of forty, dark haired, tall, thin and very obviously injured. JJ had no idea how he was able to survive while being injured but she definitely knew it was a miracle he had survived.

"Help me with this." Morgan told her as he threw some pieces of rope at her.

She frowned, "We're gonna tie him? For what?"

He, himself, frowned at her, "We don't know what that man wants. And I ain't trustin' that bandage of his. He could have been bit."

She slowly nodded, "What do we do once he wakes up…?" she quietly asked.

Morgan slowly moved from the side of the bed to be in front of her, "Once he wakes…if he wakes up, I'll talk to him…make sure he don't want to hurt us." She swallowed the saliva accumulated in her mouth then bit her bottom lip. "Tie his hands."

Without a word she slowly started to tie the man's hands above his head, to the bedpost. When she finished she turned to Morgan who was staring at the man very carefully, "You should change his bandage."

Morgan lifted his head towards her as she pointed to the man, "His bandage needs changin'. He's probably not gonna try to hurt you."

"I've got a first aid kit in the living room, could you go and get it?" JJ nodded then walked down the stairs to be met with a curious Duane.

"What's my daddy gonna do with him?" He asked as she touched his shoulder gently.

"I don't know but could you give me the first aid kit, please?" Barely her question asked she had the aid kit in her hands. She smiled down at Duane then walked up the stairs again. Still biting down that lip as her thoughts kept creeping over to the man lying in the bed. JJ knew she couldn't stay here forever, being taken care of by Morgan was nice but she knew it wouldn't last forever. She certainly would hope to be able to stay but she didn't hope too much. Hope wouldn't keep her alive. Her own will was. Her will to survive.

But how much will did she had left in her body?

She didn't have enough time to answer her own question that Morgan took the first aid kit from her hands, walking to the side of the bed where a chair stood. He sat on it as he slowly started to remove the old bandage. He suddenly stopped and he lifted his head up, looking at JJ for a few seconds.

"Ya mind doing some cooking?" She shook her head. "There are a few cans of beans and vegetables downstairs. Cook two of each in pots. You'll find those in the cupboards under the sink. I'll be down soon." She nodded then slowly made her way down, but not without forgetting to take one last look at the injured man. A sigh escaped her lips.

As she arrived in the kitchen she found Duane looking up at her as she smiled, "You hungry?" He nodded. "Alright, let me cook you something."

She followed Morgan's directions and found all she needed to start cooking. She was waiting for everything to be warm enough and before she knew it she heard Morgan coming downstairs, putting his knife away. She stared at his now empty hand before he finally realized what she was looking at.

"He woke up. He's fine. He'll be coming downstairs soon." She nodded then started pouring the food into each plate, adding an extra one for the man. As Duane sat down she heard footsteps, weak ones, coming down the stairs. She looked up as she took place at the table. He met her gaze first then his gaze drifted to Morgan, the latter looking up at him. The man slowly walked in the living room under the careful eye of both Morgan and JJ.

"This place…Fred and Cindy Drake's?" The man spoke as she listened carefully.

Morgan slowly stepped in the living room, "Never met 'em."

"I've been here. This is their place." The man continued as she heard his steps continuing to walk around.

"It was empty when we got here." She saw the man walk towards the window, hand ready to push the blanket that covered it open. "Don't do that. They'll see the light. There's more of them out there than usual. Hell, I never should've fired that gun today. The sound draws them and now they're all over the street. Stupid - using a gun. But it all happened so fast, I didn't think."

Finally, the man stood in the kitchen as he covered himself with the blanket that once lied on the bed, "You shot that man today."

"Man?"

"It weren't no man!"

Duane exclaimed as his father turned his head towards him, frowning, "What the hell was that out of your mouth just now?" JJ chuckled lightly. Man, she missed her father in these kinds of little moments.

Duane looked back at the man, "It wasn't a man."

Said man walked closer, "You shot him in the out front…a man." He became silent.

"It was definitely not a man, not anymore. That was a walker." JJ suddenly spoke up as the man drifted his gaze at her.

Morgan saw the confusion in the man's face, "Come on, sit down…before you fall down." He said as the man took place opposite Duane while JJ sat opposite Morgan. The man was about to reach into his food when Duane's voice interrupted the silence.

"Daddy," His father looked at him. "Blessing."

Morgan looked from his son to the man as the man looked at Morgan then to JJ. Morgan reached out for his son's hand and then with his other hand reached for the man's hand. JJ slowly reached out for Duane's and then for man's hand. He hesitated but clasped her hand hard. She closed her eyes.

"Lord, we thank thee for this food, thy blessings. And we ask you to watch over us in these crazy days. Amen."

"Amen."

"Amen." She whispered as she slowly let Duane's hand and then the man's hand fall out of hers. She reached slowly for her fork, starting to eat what was in her plate. JJ zoned out from that moment on, knowing that Morgan and the man talked. She could hear them but she just couldn't register what they were saying. The thoughts were flowing in and out of her mind. And thinking too much in her case would kill her eventually. All she did for the rest of supper time was eat and stare off into space until Morgan got up, asking for Duane's help to help clean.

JJ was sitting on a mattress they had brought in the living room, covers draped over her shoulders as she listened to Duane ask his father if he had asked the man a certain question. Listening to his answers she let out a small chuckle. He looked at her as she smiled, "I never asked what your name was…Sheriff." She mumbled as he looked at her.

"Rick Grimes." He answered, slight smile finding its way over his lips. "Yours is?"

"JJ. Just…JJ." She told him with a slight smile on her face. The sound of an alarm going off whipped that smile off her face. "Do you think…?" She looked at Morgan.

"One of them probably just bumped into it. It happened before." He explained as Rick turned towards the window to his left.

"Are you sure?" Rick turned his gaze back to Morgan.

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure. Went on for a few minutes. Get the light, Duane." He told his son then looked at JJ to close the other light. She quietly but very quickly got up to dim the light down until it disappeared. She found herself walking towards her mattress again as she sat back on it.

"She's here!" She heard Duane gasp. She saw him at the window looking out, Rick and Morgan doing the same.

"Don't look. Get away from the windows." Morgan ordered Duane and when he didn't go, "I said go, go on!" And that's when Duane finally moved from the window back to his mattress, sobbing. His father walked quickly to him, holding him into his arms telling him to stay quiet. She felt the sadness take over her as she remembered the story Morgan had told her the night before…about his wife. A shiver went through her body has her gaze fell on Rick's figure still standing at the window, looking out. Her gaze stayed on him as he walked to the door and looked through the peephole. It wasn't long before he came back to his mattress, sitting on it, gazing off at something.

"She, um," Morgan started, "she died in that other room on that bed in there. There was nothing I could do about it…that fever, man, her skin gave off a heat life a furnace." Duane's sobbing interrupted Morgan as he held onto him tightly, making sure his sobbing was kept low. "I should've put her down, man, I should've put her down. I know that but I- you know what? I just didn't have it in me. She's the mother of my child."

JJ stopped listening to everything around her as she slowly laid her head down in her pillow, pulling the covers over he small frame. She tried breathing slowly but her heart was almost ripping itself out of her chest. She was terrified. This new world was terrifying. Not knowing how long you'd live, not knowing if the people you cared about were dead or alive…she hated this world. And she had even started thinking that maybe opting out was the best choice but she couldn't do that to her mum nor could she do it to her dad. She had to try to fight at least…that was the least she could do for them. She slowly gazed at the door, the handle still being rattled by a walker outside. It would soon die down. Soon. It would die down.

* * *

The next day turned out to be much better for all of them. Rick, Morgan, Duane and herself had gotten out early in the morning to go to Rick's house. She had followed quietly but had started thinking. If Rick was going to go and try to find his wife, which would be very logical, she would ask if she could tag along. JJ couldn't deny she wasn't thankful to Morgan, hell, she owed him her life but she needed a move on with this life. Rick had taken keys and with Morgan's car, they drove to the police department where Rick had announced that the showers were still up and working, hot water and all. Smiles spread on everyone's face as they got their stuff to get ready to take a shower. Rick slowly walked to her and pointed to another door.

"Women's showers." He said as she nodded, thanking him.

She could thank the lord, although she wasn't much of a believer, oh, she could thank the lord at this moment. JJ hadn't taken a good hot shower in what seemed a lifetime. Feeling the water on her skin, she simply had to stand there, appreciating the warm liquid. Her head slowly was submerged under the water until she reached for the soap. She let the thick white bar in her hand slide over her damaged skin for a while until she resumed washing her whole body. She finally remembered how soft her skin could be, how nice it could be. The water still falling on her head, she opened her eyes and looked down at her body. The scars. She slowly traced all of them one by one, starting with the one that was on her collarbone; it had healed but was still very much visible. She moved to the ones on her stomach and hips, those had also healed and only little white lines were visible. She slowly let her head fall back then let her fingers slide through strands of hair. Her long black hair had been tied up in a ponytail for so long she had forgotten how long her hair was. She was amazed at the length of it, her hair arriving in the middle of her back. She smiled then looked at the door, reality hitting. She had to finish washing then get dressed to finally leave out in this world. Her smile faded but her optimism didn't. Not yet.

JJ walked out ten minutes afterwards and walked to the armoury, where she heard voices. Rick noticed her then gave her a nod as she did the same. She simply stood there while watching the men deciding on which weapon they would take. The only time she talked was when Rick asked her if she knew how to use a gun, to which she answered, "My dad was a hunter, went hunting every time with him. So, yes, I think I'll be fine with a gun." He gave her a small smile then handed her a handgun, a new one.

They walked out of the police station and Rick asked the question she had been waiting for, "Are you sure you don't want to come along?"

Morgan gazed at JJ, "Duane and I will stay here for a coupe days, it'll give him enough time to learn how to shoot and give me some time for me to see how rusty I am." He said, "JJ…you decide."

She sighed, "Not that I don't appreciate what you did for me but-"

"I get it, girl, you have a right to do whatever you want." He said, smiling as he pulled her into a hug before releasing her.

She turned to Rick, "Will you have me? I'm not much but-"

He smirked, "You'll be enough, I'm sure."

They smiled and then said their goodbyes until a grunting sound caught their attention. Rick slowly walked towards the fence that separated the walker and them, "Leon Basset?"

"You knew him?" Morgan asked.

Rick nodded, "JJ, why don't you go and put those bags in the car. I'll take care of it and make sure we're gone before they hear it." He said as she grabbed the bags of guns, opening the door to the car and shoving the bags in it. She heard the shot go off and froze but regained movement fast enough to get in the passenger seat, Rick taking place in the driver's seat seconds after. He put the key in the ignition then drove off, following after Morgan's car, both cars going their own way, separating when leaving the police station. A comfortable silence fell between JJ and Rick as he drove. This was the start of something new, this was a new start for her and for once she wasn't alone. She wasn't alone anymore. She had Rick. For how long, she had no idea but she would enjoy the company. She found herself looking at him as he looked at her quickly, eyebrows furrowed. It had been a wise decision from her, she knew it but he was a wise man.

"Thank you…for letting me come with you." Was all she said as he smiled at her, both of them falling into, yet, another comfortable silence as they embarked on a small road. The beginning of their long road ahead. It sure wasn't going to be an easy one.

* * *

**So this is chapter one. I had decided to post every friday but turns out that this past friday my inspiration was nowhere to be found. But it came, at last. So this is it. **

**Just as a warning for people who like stories that go fast...this one will not. I want to do a good story but also one that goes deep into the characters, as deep as it can. It will be a long and slow story. You won't be seeing Daryl for another good one or two chapters so yeah. I want to take this story slowly and if you guys like then review and maybe, just maybe, if you review a lot then I'll post a chapter slightly quicker than just one a week. I plan to still post every friday and I've arranged a schedule for myself to be able to post on fridays. With hopes I'll be able to post on schedule. **

**And I need just an opinion, with very little you know about JJ...how do you think Daryl and her will first react to each other? :) I'd love to know.**

**Anyways, ENJOY! And leave reviews! No bashing please but I do love constructive reviews. English isn't my first language so I do want to improve :)**

**For more news about the chapters coming, follow me on twitter. I often talk about it. _babycakesnast **

**Enjoy & Review xx :) **


	3. Chapter 2

**Here goes chapter 2! I own nothing! Only my OC. **

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 2**

"Stuck in a dead men's world"

Panic was slowly setting in for JJ. They were stuck. They wouldn't be able to get out from where they were. It would be impossible with all those walkers around. Rick and JJ were stuck in a tank in the middle of the city of Atlanta. A herd of walkers swarming the tank as they tried finding a way out of this. Maybe they could wait it out but the heat in the tank was killing her. She had two bullets left in her gun and Rick was probably running out of bullets, just as she was. She threw a glance at Rick and the body of a soldier. He was looking through the man's pockets, searching for ammo or something useful to defend themselves with. She eyed the object in his hand, a grenade. Would it be of help to them right now? Or would it simply bring more walkers to them? Either way, she didn't want to know the answer.

"Hey, your alive in there? Are you guys alright?" A voice came through from a small radio as both Rick and JJ rushed to the radio. Rick took the radio in his hand.

"Hello? Hello?"

The young voice answered back to the pleasure of JJ's ears, "There you are. You had me wondering. The other person with you, she's fine?" Rick looked at JJ and with a nod from her, Rick nodded in the air then brought the radio close to his lips again.

"Yes, we're both fine. Where are you? Outside? Can you see us right now?" Rick rapidly asked, panic clear in his voice. JJ stared at the radio, wondering why they had been so lucky at this exact moment.

"Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers…that's the bad news." He said. They stopped moving then looked at each other, suddenly defeated at the news but Rick still brought the radio once again to his lips.

"There's good news?" He asked while looking at her straight in the eyes with hope. She held his gaze for what seemed like a long time until the man on the other side of the radio answered.

"No." JJ let her head hang low for a few seconds before bringing it up again to take the radio from Rick's hand.

She brought it to her lips, "Look, whoever you are, we're slightly concerned in here and we would love to get out of here! So please, find us a way out of here!" She desperately asked as she let the radio fall back into Rick's hand before leaning against the wall of the tank.

"Alright! Alright…You guys should see it from my end, man, you'd have a major freak-out." JJ was slowly losing any patience she had left but Rick held a hand in front of her face, indicating, from what she assumed, to stay calm.

Rick sighed, "Got any advice?"

"Yeah, I'd say make a run for it." Rick twisted his neck to his left to look at JJ, pondering on whether they should listen to the advice or not. She shook her head and shrugged, not knowing what to do.

Eyebrows furrowed, JJ took the radio and made sure to inhale before asking, "That's it? Make a run for it? That's your idea?"

"My way's not as dumb as it sounds. You've got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on that tank but the rest have all climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. You're with me so far?" He asked and she gave the radio back to Rick.

"So far."

"Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. Got ammo?" JJ immediately started shaking her head, whispering to Rick that she only had two bullets left.

"In the duffel bag I dropped out there and guns, can I get to it?" Rick asked while looking at JJ.

"Forget the bag, okay? It's not an option. What do you guys have on you?" He asked, Rick shoving the radio into JJ's hand as he looked around. She stared at Rick then gave the radio back when he went back to her.

"I've got a beretta with one clip, fifteen rounds. She's going to be just fine." Rick said, saying that last part while looking at her. She nodded, trying to convince herself she was.

"Make 'em count. Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe 50 yards. Be there." It was at that moment that she knew that they were going ahead with this plan. She hoped that guy was right.

"Hey, what's your name?" Rick asked. _Yes, I'd love to know your name. I'm getting tired of thinking of you as 'the guy'. _

Almost sounding irritated by the question, he answered, "Have you been listening? You're running out of time!"

"Right." Rick said then he started fidgeting around. He stopped moving and took JJ's shoulder in his hands. "You be careful out there. Stay behind me and make those two shots count." He told her as she kept silent, only nodding. He looked around one last time then reached for what looked like a shovel then took a deep breath. He looked at her then ran for the top of the tank, JJ closely behind him. The door to the thank now open she had her back to him asshe heard him hit a walker then he climbed atop the tank, turning around to lift her up from inside. He jumped on the concrete and as he hit it, she heard him yell out.

"Rick!" She yelled as she jumped too, hitting the concrete hard and falling to her knees. She got up quickly then ran to Rick, helping him up as the moaning got closer. She immediately pressed her back to his, gun in hand, hoping she wouldn't have to shoot her last two bullets. Rick started to run down the street while shooting at walkers. He always made sure JJ was following close behind. Going further down, she felt Rick turn to his right and heard some fence opening.

"WHOA! NOT DEAD!" JJ turned around and standing in front of Rick stood a young Asian guy wearing a baseball cap, black t-shirt, baseball jersey and backpack. "COME ON! COME ON!"

They started running down the alley under panicked orders from the young Asian guy to hurry up. They slowed down for a mere second as they arrived at a ladder, ladder the young Asian guy started to climb, followed by JJ then eventually, after panicked yelling from their saviour, by Rick. She had no idea where this ladder led to but she couldn't care at the moment, all she wanted to do right now was to hug that guy for saving them, although the plan had scared the crap out of her and she didn't usually hug strangers, or anybody for that matter. The ladder stopped in the middle of the building, where a small balcony stood. Once Rick was secure on the balcony, they all leaned over and panted. They couldn't stop panting, all three of them. She looked over at Rick and then to her left where their saviour stood.

"Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff come riding in to clean up the town?" He sarcastically asked.

Rick looked at him, looking past JJ, "It wasn't my intention."

"Yeah, whatever. Yeehaw. You're still a dumbass." JJ couldn't help but chuckle at the guy, he had a dry sense of humour but still had a sense of humour nonetheless. He looked at her then smiled slightly.

"Rick, thanks." Rick introduced himself then he nodded towards JJ, "This is JJ." He hung out his hand to the guy, waiting for him to introduce himself.

"Glenn, you're welcome." Glenn shook Rick's hand then smiled again at JJ. She looked at him the reached out, bringing him into a one-armed hug.

"I don't usually hug strangers but when said stranger saved your life, I'll make an exception." She whispered, still panting as he awkwardly put a hand on the small of her back.

"I'm not a stranger anymore…I'm Glenn." He said as she leaned out of the hug. She smirked then nodded.

"Glenn. I'll definitely remember that." She said as she followed Glenn's gaze go down the ladder. Walkers were actually trying to climb up the ladder.

"Oh, no." He said then walked to the ladder that stood behind Rick. He then turned to the latter, "Bright side: It'll be the fall that'll kill us. I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy."

JJ scoffed as she followed after Glenn, Rick insisting for her to go first. When they arrived on top of the building, she simply followed Rick and Glenn around as Rick was asking Glenn some questions. It had been a god given gift to have had Glenn see them from where he had been. And much nicer to see he was willing to help total strangers. JJ always thought she would have been better off alone but now, being with Rick and Glenn…she wasn't too sure if she'd ever want to be alone again. It was so easy to grow accustomed to people like them even in the middle of the apocalypse.

"Whoa. Careful there." Glenn said holding her arm for a second. _Great, _she thought. She had bumped right into his back. There goes the clumsy JJ again, bumping into people. She apologized and followed Glenn down a trap that most definitely led into the building. Once back on solid ground they ran through the building then out of another door that led them into an alley where four walkers could be seen. She saw Glenn freeze in his footsteps as he stared at the walkers, said walkers slowly limping towards them. Holding their breaths in, the door surprisingly opened at the right moment and two, assuming she was right, guys walked out with baseball bats and covered in protective gear. The approached the walkers and started to hit them in the head, both walkers falling face first on the ground while their heads were being bashed in. Glenn, Rick and herself ran and jumped over the walkers to finally enter into another building. Barely one foot in, a blonde woman grabbed Rick by the collar and pushed him back into a pile of boxes. JJ heard the door closing behind her and stared at the angry woman who had a gun pointed at Rick's head. JJ took out her own gun and pointed it at the woman's head, taking the safety off in case she actually needed to shoot.

"You might want to rethink that, miss." JJ growled as the woman turned her head towards JJ, slight surprise in her eyes. "I may appreciate the life saving but I certainly don't appreciate you putting a gun to my friend's head."

"Come on, Andrea, ease up." A black woman said as the blonde woman, Andrea, turned to her with an exasperated look on her face.

She scoffed, "Ease up? You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of that stupid asshole!"

JJ chuckled, "Not that I mind shooting her but I'd love not to waste a bullet on someone so could someone fucking calm her down!" She ended up half-yelling, half-saying. A Hispanic man walked up to them and looked angrily at Andrea.

"Andrea, I said back the hell off." He told her as a silence fell upon them. "Well, pull the trigger." She noticed that Andrea was sobbing as she let her gun fall down to her side, JJ doing the same. She put it back where it belonged and let her hands go to her hips while looking at Andrea.

"We're all dead—all of us—because of you." She said looking a Rick with disgust.

JJ shook her head and muttered, "For Christ's sake." She could see Rick not sure of what he had done and even if he knew, it wasn't his fault. It wasn't their fault, JJ was with him too. All they were trying to was to survive. To live another freaking day!

He looked around the people, "I don't understand." The Hispanic man grabbed Rick by the arm and walked with him as the others followed closely behind. JJ mostly stayed behind while listening to what the Hispanic man said.

"Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving! You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K. Corral!" JJ stopped for a second then let out a sigh.

Another voice butted in, "Every geeks for miles around hear you popping off rounds."

"You just rang the dinner bell." Andrea said. JJ finally walked up to Rick and looked at what he was looking. The main entrance of the store was surrounded by walkers, geeks, whatever their names were…and Rick looked horrified, so did JJ.

"You get the picture now?" The Hispanic man asked Rick.

Geeks were trying to get into the store. They were hitting the glass with all of their strengths and it was already starting to crack. One geek even had a rock in his hand, hitting at the glass. JJ backed away and bumped into something, someone, familiar: Glenn. She walked passed him and leaned on one of the counters behind her. These people were now in danger because of them. That's how JJ saw it. Although they hadn't given the best impression, they were still human beings trying to survive.

A shot rang out.

"Oh no, is that Dixon?" Andrea asked as they all started to run upstairs. JJ quietly followed the black woman up the stairs. After a couple of minutes they had arrived on the roof and the Hispanic man was the one to open the door, revealing a bright sun.

"Hey Dixon! Are you crazy?" Said 'crazy' man started laughing. Like a mad man. JJ scoffed. _One hell of a group_, she thought.

He pointed the barrel of the gun at the Hispanic man, "Hey! Y'all be more polite to a man with a gun! Huh? AH!" He got down from his perch and laughed once more, "Only common sense."

A black man ran to the man named Dixon yelling, "Man! You wasting bullets we ain't even got! And you're bringing more of them down on our ass, man, just chill!"

Dixon continued laughing but stopped as he said, "Bad enough I've got this taco-bender on my ass all day. Now I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so, Bro. That'll be the day."

_Oh, I see, he's that kind of guy. A redneck. A racist redneck. _

The black man retorted, "That'll be the day? You got something you want to tell me?"

Hispanic butt in, saying, "Hey, T-Dog, man, just leave it. It ain't worth it. Now, Merle, just relax, okay? We've got enough trouble."

JJ looked at Glenn with a curious look on her face as he simply shook his head, "Don't— don't get involved with this. Merle Dixon is not a guy you want to try to fight or argue with. No Dixon is." _There's more than one? Great. _

"You want to know the day?" Merle asked T-Dog.

"Yeah." The latter answered.

Merle got closer to T-Dog, "I'll tell you the day, Mr. 'Yo.' It's the day I take orders from a—"

JJ could not believe the man and neither did T-Dog as he tried punching Merle but was welcomed with a hit from the riffle Merle held in his hands. Slowly but surely the fight got bigger, Rick trying to stop Merle but only getting hit in trying to do so. The Hispanic man tried to stop Merle too but was welcomed with the same thing as Rick had been welcomed with. JJ reached out but Glenn grabbed her arm, stopping her from doing so. There were yells of plea coming from Andrea, the black woman and the Hispanic man. JJ stood behind Glenn, starting to appreciate the fact that he stopped her from getting involved. She saw Rick from the corner of her eyes getting up very slowly, hand reaching his jaw. A sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she looked at the situation in front of her, situation that hadn't gotten better at all. Merle had a gun pointed to T-Dog's head. Looking angrily at the man below him, Merle spit on him then yelled.

"We're gonna have ourselves a little powwow, huh?" He yelled as he got up, dragging T-Dog with him as the others went to grab him, bringing T-Dog to their side. "Talk about who's in charge. I vote me. Anybody else? Huh? Democracy time, y'all! Show of hands, huh?" Everybody, including JJ, raised their hands but by doing so she had caught his attention. "That's good. And who might you be, sugar tits? Huh?"

She grunted and looked at him, "Wouldn't you like to know, asshole." She said as he let out a laugh. He looked at her for a few seconds before drifting his gaze back at the group.

"Anybody else? Huh? Anybody?"

"Yeah." Merle turned around to face the voice and received a riffle in the face, hitting him good as he fell to the ground. Rick panted then put his knee into Merle's face, grabbing his handcuffs and one of Merle's hands, cuffing the bastard to a metal pipe. He then grabbed Merle by the collar bringing him up to his face.

"Who the hell are you, man?" Merle's screaming was muffled by the way Rick held him.

"Officer friendly."

JJ couldn't help smiling although she looked completely stupid doing so seeing the situation they were in. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she walked towards a small metal structure where a few steps were. She sat on them then laid her head in her hands. The biggest headache was taking the best of her. And her body was all kinds of sore. She looked back at Rick who was still in Merle's face and then back at the group.

Maybe, just maybe they could make it work.

* * *

Yup. If bad ideas WERE an Olympic even, that idea would have taken the gold.

JJ could not believe the idea that had entered Rick's mind. She stayed a few seconds behind the others as Rick and Glenn had gone out, guts covering their trench coats, and were now on the streets of Atlanta. They were among walkers. JJ had offered to go but Rick had insisted on not letting her go, which had made her protest but in the end she lost and he won that debate. She followed the group back up to the roof and like everyone, she looked over the edge trying to see from the naked eye where Rick and Glenn were. She looked up at the sky and stared at it for a few seconds before bringing her gaze back down to the street. It felt as if the fear had kicked her in the stomach, giving her a sudden stomach ache that made her want to throw up. The smell from the body being squashed and cut by the axe came back to her nostrils, only making it worse. She brought her hand up to her mouth every few seconds, the constant fear of anything coming up her throat present. She had not made quite an impression on those people and did not plan to give them the impression she was a weak girl.

"What did you do before this?" JJ whipped her head to the source of the voice that had just spoken. It was the Hispanic man. "I'm Morales by the way." The tone of his voice was completely different from before when it was angry and panicked. Now, it was almost friendly…comforting, she could even say.

"I served in the army. Canadian army. Not long though but I've had my fair share of guns and near death experience. Studied human behaviour before that but it wasn't for me." She tried smiling but she was scared that the moment the smile would come to her lips, something bad was going to happen. "I'm JJ and sorry for my less then stellar introduction back there. I suppose pointing a gun at one of your people's head wasn't a great idea."

Morales chuckled then squinted his eyes a bit while looking over the edge, "You were trying to protect someone, I get it." He looked back at her.

She sighed, "I feel like this is taking hours." A shaky breath escaped her lips as she looked down. And that's when she felt it. The first drop of rain. She immediately looked up and stared at the grey clouds that were now covering the city, glaring at them as if she was a mother scolding a child that had done something wrong. And the clouds had. They were about to blow Rick and Glenn's cover: the smell. She looked at Morales whom had, by then, taken the binoculars from Andrea, looking down the street then looking back up at the sky before finally setting his eyes on her. Also, by then, the rain had started falling down in a small amount but it would be just a matter of minutes before it'd be pouring down.

"It's just a little bit of rain. Happens all the time," He looked back at the sky, "It should be over soon." She reached a hand out and Morales stared at it, eyebrows furrowed, until he understood and handed her the binoculars. As she looked down the streets, she noticed them continuing to walk but something in the way Glenn was walking threw her off. She stared at his movement for a few moments before handing the binoculars back to Morales. He frowned when he saw her whisper something that looked like 'shit.'

Right then, Andrea let a gasp escape her lips as they all looked at her, "The smell washed off, they just started sprinting towards the fence. We have to go! Now!" She yelled as everyone started to run, gathering the stuff they had on the roof. JJ ran over to T-Dog and lifted him up. The latter tried running but JJ ran back to him and held an arm out. When she caught his arm, he turned around to look at her.

"Where's the key?" She asked as T-Dog tried getting out of her grasp.

"Key?" JJ simply pointed at Merle, who had started panicking when everyone did.

His eyes widened and he reached into his pocket, taking the key out. He then rushed back to Merle, knocking tools over, as he walked down the stair and in a panic state he tripped. She looked as T-Dog fell face first on the ground, hearing the key fall down and seeing it, with horror, going down a pipe. A gasp and a small whisper of 'no' left her lips as she walked towards T-Dog, under Merle's screaming.

"Man! You can't leave me here! Come on!" He was repeating those words over and over, adding a few curse words here and there. He was trying to get out of those cuffs by trying to break the pipe it was attached to or by trying to slip his wrist out of the cuffs. But none of those were working.

JJ had kneeled next to Merle for a mere second when T-Dog had grabbed her, yelling that they had to go. She tried clinging onto Merle's vest, yelling, too, that they couldn't leave him but T-Dog was much more stronger and he lifted her off of her knees, dragging her with him as he put more and more distance between them and Merle. Passed the door, JJ let her hand grab the railing of the stairs and this action forced T-Dog to stop and look at her. The others were already gone and it was clear in his face that he did not want to be left alone here.

"Come on! We gotta go!" He yelled.

"We can't leave him alone! Asshole or not, he's a human and it's murder leaving him here!" Her yelling caused T-Dog to back away a bit before biting down on his lower lip. He looked back up then took the chains that were around the handle of the door. His back to her, she couldn't see what he was doing until he moved and grabbed her arm again. He had chained the door.

Tugging on her arm, he said, "That's the best we can do. Now, we gotta go if we want to make it out of here."

JJ looked at T-Dog then the door, doing this movement back and forth for a few seconds before nodding, letting T-Dog take control as he dragged her down. That's what made JJ a horrible soldier: she was too sensitive. Although it had never affected her in the very few times she found herself in the field, she knew that one day it would have taken over her. Those emotions she was feeling right at this moment would one day be the death of her.

It was luck for them to arrive down where the others were the moment walkers started overrunning the store. The truck was there and they climbed into the back of it. T-Dog's grasp letting her go the moment they stepped foot in the truck, she fell down on her bottom with a thud before letting her eyes direct themselves onto Rick sitting in the driver's seat. He looked back at her and nodded as she did the same. Giving a quick look back on the road, he looked back at the people in the truck then looked, once more, at JJ. She shook her head and Rick turned his head slowly, realizing who was missing. She tried closing her eyes for a few seconds but the image of Merle Dixon stuck on that roof were already haunting her. Although it wasn't her fault, she would feel guilty until the day she'd die.

At least, she had tried.

* * *

A sudden bump shook her away from her thoughts, indicating the change from cement to a dirt road, meaning they were coming closer to the camp she had hear Morales talk about while Rick drove. All she tried concentrating on right now was the alarm coming from that other car Glenn was driving. It was almost peaceful. A hand on her shoulder shook her as she lifted her head towards the person, it was Andrea.

"We're here." JJ simply nodded and smiled slightly staying where she was. Everyone had gotten out of the truck but she stayed still. She could hear a lot of people talking but only one voice was able to get her to concentrate.

"JJ." Rick.

She turned to him and then raised her eyebrows as he asked her to come closer, "What happened?"

She sighed then looked down at her hands, the very ones that had held Merle then let go of him, "Everyone ran down and we almost forgot him. So I caught T-Dog…told him to take the key out and free Merle. He did but he dropped it down a pipe when he fell down. I," she bit her bottom lip, " I insisted to try and free him but T-Dog knew, and I too, that we wouldn't get out if we stayed. T-Dog had to drag me away."

"You did everything you could. You also had to think of your own safety. Don't blame yourself." He whispered to her, trying to comfort her. His gaze was stern, telling her not to blame herself. And she knew better than to do that.

She smiled a bit, "T-Dog chained the door so walkers couldn't get to him…it means he's still up there." Hope was clear in her voice.

Rick's head fell down then he lifted it up, "Let's get some rest first then we'll talk." He patted her shoulder. JJ nodded then got up and followed Rick out of the truck.

"Hey officer friendly! Get over here." Morales called out as Rick dragged his feet, contouring the truck. JJ was walking slowly behind him and all of a sudden she saw him run. Walking faster, she contoured the truck then saw what made Rick run. He was on the ground hugging a woman and a young boy she recognized to be his wife and son from a picture in the police car they had taken. Her eyes were glossy from the tears that were threatening to fall but she kept it together, watching the new faces. Her gaze fell on a man with a shotgun in hand. He was taller and very bulky. He wore a black t-shirt that hugged him and beige cargo pants. He was looking over the reunion with a small smile but JJ saw something else…but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She stared at him but then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around and was now facing Glenn, "Hey." Was all she said as she actually reached to hug him. He was shocked at first but slowly wrapped one arm around her waist. They stayed like this for a few seconds but she then backed away from the hug, "Thank you." She whispered as he smiled at her.

"JJ." Rick called her as she felt everyone looking at her. He called her over, "This is JJ, she's been travelling with me. We…we kept each other safe." Lori smile and mouthed a 'thank you.'

JJ felt her cheeks becoming red, "No need to thank me. He kept me safe." She said as an older man with a rifle in his hand approached her.

"Let's get you guys some food."

* * *

After getting the chance to wash up and eat, JJ had only one last thing she wanted to do: sleep. The soreness in her body was becoming evident and unavoidable as the day passed by but she decided to make an effort and stayed with everyone around the fire, sitting in between Glenn and Dale, the older man whom had given her food. JJ hadn't gotten the chance to talk to everyone but she had caught a few names here and there. There was Lori, Rick's wife, and their son, Carl, whom she had met first. There was also a woman named Carol who had very short grey-ish hair and her daughter Sophia. And her husband but JJ had not bothered to remember his name. Then there was Shane, the man she had analyzed earlier during the day during their arrival at the camp. And a young blond woman who was Andrea's baby sister, Amy. But her memory didn't bother learning new names as trying to walk and talking became hard for her. All the emotional and physical strain had finally taken the best of her and she didn't dare talking. The only time she talked was when Shane approached her, with Rick close-by, and told her that if she wanted to stay at the camp, she would have to work for it. She remembered that she nodded to him and said something along the lines of, "Put me to work and I'll work, but don't expect me to be a servant."

He simply smirked at her then held his hands up and said, "Alright then." He had then turned to Rick and cocked his head at him. She knew he was still smirking and she couldn't hold it in and smirked herself.

"I hate bringing this up but how are we gonna tell Daryl that Merle was left behind?" Dale asked, the camp falling silent. JJ cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Daryl?"

"Daryl Dixon. Merle's younger brother." JJ let her head fall. _He has a brother. _The guilt she had felt earlier coming back to her as her gaze slid over to T-Dog's figure.

"It was an accident." T-Dog murmured.

Amy shot up with an idea, "We could lie."

"And what if Merle came back? Those Dixon brother's wouldn't be too happy knowing we lied." Dale started, looking around. "We have to find a way to tell Daryl-"

"Dale," Shane started, "We'll think of this tomorrow. He won't be back until later in the day. Some of us here need some rest." He stated while looking over at Rick and JJ. She couldn't help but yawn as Dale dropped a hand on her shoulder.

"You take the bed in the RV, I'll be keeping watch tonight. We'll figure out a place for you to sleep tomorrow." JJ smiled then got up, wishing everyone a goodnight sleep. She walked slowly towards the RV, opening the door and quietly closing it as she dragged her feet to bed. She smiled when feeling the fabric of the blankets.

It definitely hadn't taken her long before falling asleep, the events of the day kicking in full the moment her head hit the pillow.

Opening her eyes the next morning, JJ stayed still in the bed while staring at the ceiling of the RV. This had been her most comfortable night since this whole apocalypse had started. She knew someone kept a secure eye on the camp and that it wasn't just Rick, Morgan, Duane and her. She trusted Morgan and Rick with weapons, not forgetting herself too, but she constantly would have worried about Duane's safety. But here, the camp felt safe but she could never forget what was out there. Those walkers. But now that she was within a group she felt as if she didn't need to worry as much. JJ looked around and on a small table she saw clothes and shoes. She smiled as she took them and went to the small bathroom, changing. It was a pair of jeans, probably Amy's, and a dark blue t-shirt that hugged her torso and a pair of, what she hadn't seen in a long time, black converse. She looked at herself in the mirror for the first time in what seemed like a long time. Looking at how hot it was outside, she guessed she had slept in a little…maybe a lot. She chuckled.

Her long black hair was messy and falling on her shoulder. She let her fingers slide through her hair and tried undoing the knots in her hair. She would wince from time to time but she had to get it done. She saw a brush on the counter and picked it up quickly, brushing her thick black hair into a ponytail. She looked around for a few seconds then smiled as she saw a hairband, picking it up and tying her hair. She smiled a little then grabbed her dirty clothes and shoes, walking out to see Carol already hanging some clothes.

JJ slowly made her way towards her, "Good morning."

Carol smiled, "Good morning. Sleep well?"

"Best I've slept in a long time," she derailed as she then played with her dirty t-shirt, "I was wondering where I could put my dirty clothes to wash…"

Carol turned around then back at JJ, "There's a blue basket there, put them in there. We're going down to the quarry to wash some clothing later on, if you'd like to join us…?

JJ smiled, "Of course, I'd love to."

"MOM!"

"DAD!"

Everyone started running towards the screaming, every single man grabbing a weapon. Not losing any time looking for one, JJ simply ran into the woods, following everyone else. Looking ahead of her, she slowed down when they arrived in a small area where there were no trees but in the small terrain of dirt was a walker, munching on a buck. Everyone froze and looked at it for a few seconds before it turned its head around to them, growling. It barely got time to move that all the man started attacking it, throwing blows all at the same time. JJ looked on from behind Rick as Dale, axe in hand, approached the walker and with one final blow, beheaded the walker. A silence fell on the group as they stared at it. They all looked at each other as they watched the mangled body of the walker laying there, its smell reaching up their nostrils. JJ grimaced and stood next to Rick, looking up at him. He was about to say something when a noise coming from the woods made them freeze. They all stood in a stance, ready for another walker to come. Shane reached into his pocket then took out a knife, handing it to her as he returned his gaze towards the woods. JJ stared out ahead into the woods, heart beating fast and knife in hand…she was ready.

The branches moved, steps were heard and the time felt like it had stopped.

* * *

**So there it is. Chapter two! I'm not too satisfied with the beginning but I'm quite liking the ending. I can't wait for you guys to read my other chapter. I think you're going to like how JJ reacts to Daryl and vice-versa. So, please do tell me what you think is going to happen! I love hearing theories from you guys! :) **

**Enjoy! No bashing but nice & constructive comments are appreciated :) xx **

**I'll try posting a new one soon :) Maybe if I get reviews, I might give myself a good kick in the butt and write because I am in a mood to write :) haha**

**Anyways, once again, ENJOY! xx :) **


	4. Chapter 3

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 3**

"Seeing Red"

Everyone held their breaths in for a second. The movement coming from the branches being moved got louder and closer. Every single body staring at that one spot held a tense body, every single line was tense and so was their facial expressions. Trying to keep her breathing steady, JJ stared and kept staring for what seemed like a lifetime. Suddenly, a figure appeared and took a step back, a small expression of surprise seen in his face. He looked around everybody then, crossbow in hand, walked towards the buck cursing as he then approached the walker, kicking it while swearing some more. JJ had not will to listen to what he was saying, the man had almost given her a damn heart attack. She could see people relaxing, now knowing it wasn't a walker, but Dale had tensed and it suddenly hit JJ. She had been slowly walking away from the group as she turned around, looking at the new man. Undeniable resemblance to Merle. The man's clothing was covered in what seemed like months of accumulated dirt. His skin was tanned, a clear indication of having spent a lot of time in the sun. He was definitely taller than JJ, her head only reaching, she assumed, his shoulders. His face was scrunched up and he looked intimidating standing there with his crossbow. In any normal situation, this wouldn't be a man she would be friends with but the end of the world couldn't, and wouldn't, give her the luxury of choosing whom she wanted to be friends, or ally, with. Her eyes fell to a line with squirrels attached to it, they were dead. She swallowed then walked back to camp, knowing very well that the man, Daryl if she remembered, was slowly following behind her along with the rest of the group.

"Merle! Come out, you dirty son of a bitch! I got us some squirrels that need some skinnin'." He yelled. JJ stayed outside the RV but stood far away enough so she could still see Daryl and the rest of the group.

Shane walked up to him, "Daryl, we need to talk."

Daryl turned, "About what?"

"It's Merle…there was a problem in Atlanta." Shane explained as Daryl bit down on his lip while looking at the ground.

"He dead?"

Shane looked at Rick fast then back to Daryl, "We're not sure…"

Nerves got the better of Daryl as he walked up to Shane, "Either he is or he ain't!" Rick walked up to the yelling Daryl.

"There's no easy way to say this so…I'll just say it as it is."

Daryl, eyebrows furrowed, looked at him, "Who the hell are you?!"

JJ was expecting anything to happen seeing as Daryl didn't seem to have a calm temper, "Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes…anythin' you wanna tell me!?" Daryl yelled as he started pacing around. She couldn't see Daryl's face anymore but from his posture, she could tell he was about to explode.

Rick licked his lips, preparing to talk, "Your brother was a danger to us all. I had to handcuff him to a piece of piping on a roof."

Silence. Daryl kept pacing, holding a hand to his mouth, "Let me process this…you HANDCUFFED my brother and you LEFT HIM THERE?!" He yelled as Rick stared at Daryl.

"Yes…"

Fists clenched, JJ knew what was going to happen and before she even got the chance to warn Rick, Daryl was gone in a wave of fury. He tossed the line of squirrels at Rick, whom avoided it swiftly, and went for Rick. Shane grabbed Daryl and shoved him to the ground but Daryl hit him in the abdomen and got back up as he took a knife out of his sheathe. Eyes widening, JJ couldn't help but form a fist with both of her hands.

"Hey jerkweed!"

The blow to his jaw knocked him right off of his feet and to the ground. JJ had hit him. He had not seen it coming and she had not prepared herself for what she was about to do but she knew she had done something 'bad' when gasps could be heard as Daryl looked back at her from the ground, anger in his face as he attempted to get back up, probably to get back at her, but thankfully Shane shoved him back to the ground, grabbing him in a chokehold. JJ kicked the knife further away as she held her right hand, the one she had hit Daryl with, in her left, massaging it. Her breathing was quick as she looked from Rick to Daryl, her gaze staying on the latter still being held by Shane.

"You bastard better let me go!" Daryl kept struggling against Shane. "Chokehold's illegal!"

"Shane, let him go. It's not going to help if we can't deal with this like adults." Shane looked at Rick then let Daryl go, the latter sitting on the ground looking from Rick to Shane.

T-Dog approached them quietly, "It ain't Rick's fault…I had the key. I dropped it."

Daryl got up and glared at T-Dog, "And you couldn't pick it up?!"

T-Dog's head fell down, guilt written all over his face, "I dropped it down a drain…"

Rubbing his face, Daryl yelled, "If that's supposed to make me feel better, well, it ain't!" Daryl was about to walk away until T-Dog's voice stopped him.

"I chained the door so the walkers couldn't get to him."

Daryl held an expression of disgust all over his face, tears were threatening to fall and he desperately tried hiding that fact. He swallowed and stared at the ground, rubbing a hand over his face, angrily.

"To hell with y'all!" He did a 360˚ while looking at everyone. His gaze stopped on JJ and his face lit up but with anger and fury. She had hit him after all, "Tell me where he is. So I can go get him…" He told Rick, the latter biting down his lower lip as he looked on the ground for a second.

"He'll show you." Everyone turned towards Lori. "He'll show you…" She repeated one last time. JJ silently scoffed then walked away as the men, mostly Shane and Rick, were arguing on whether or not Rick should take Glenn, Daryl and T-Dog to go with to save Merle, which to Shane sounded stupid even thinking to save that 'bastard'. Eventually, Rick telling Shane about the bag of guns, bag of guns she had forgotten about, finally convinced the latter to let them go although, not afraid to make it clear, he wasn't happy with Rick's decision.

JJ approached the truck as the men were getting ready to leave. She walked up to the driver's side and looked up at Glenn who, in return, smiled slightly.

"You be careful out there, hm?" Glenn's smile suddenly got bigger, one eyebrow cocked. "I can be nice you know…aside from pointing guns at people's heads-"

"And hitting people?"

JJ smiled, "And hitting people…what? He deserved it. No wonder they're brothers. Assholes…" JJ knew she didn't actually mean what she was saying but she was trying to find a way to convince herself that Daryl was exactly like his brother but her two years in studying human behaviour told her otherwise, pissing her off because of how curious she was. She had regretted punching him the moment her fist landed on his jaw. Her brain hadn't registered what she had just done…The simply fact that Daryl had tried hurting Rick, her friend, had drove her into a rage she had tried controlling at that moment. But that rage also had to come out and that's when her fist went flying right into his face. She knew it could have been much worse if she hadn't tried to calm herself down.

"Yeah, well, don't say that in front of him. He'll rip your head off." Glenn faked a shudder as JJ laughed.

"I'll rip his first." Was all she said when she heard someone climbing into the back of the truck. Glenn turned around then motioned for JJ to hide. She simply walked back and listened to Daryl's voice yell to everyone to 'hurry the hell up, we ain't got all day'. She grunted then tapped Glenn's arm rapidly before joining the women. She stood next to Lori and watched as Rick slowly got in the back of the truck, nodding off to Lori and then looking at JJ slowly, also nodding. He closed the door then everyone watched as the truck drove away. A sigh escaped everyone's lips as they went back to what they were doing.

Now…the waiting game.

* * *

Sitting in the back of an old truck, the women, along with JJ, were going down to the quarry to clean some clothes. JJ was glad she could go because she definitely needed to take her mind off of things. She looked at the blue sky and held back a smile, the fear of looking stupid creeping in her head. She was tapping her fingers on her knee and squinting up at the sky. She suddenly hissed, as quietly as possible, and looked at her joints. They would be bruised by the time the next morning would arrive.

The car came to a stop. JJ looked at Lori and then jumped off the back of the truck. She picked a few buckets then took one to sit on. She handed one to Carol, small smile on her lips. Carol had a bucket in her hands, bucket she put between JJ and herself. One by one, always staying quiet, they started to wash the clothing.

"JJ is it?" It was Lori.

She lifted her head as her name was called, "Yes."

"How's the hand?" Lori asked. JJ looked down then back at Lori, stretching her hand.

"It should be fine."

"I find you lucky to still be alive after punching Daryl Dixon." Lori shook her head, smiling.

Frowning, JJ had to ask, "What's with this guy anyway? Glenn told me something similar before leaving."

Everyone looked down, "Let's just say that Merle and Daryl Dixon weren't anyone's best friend here. We didn't complain either…they were hunting for food and fed us so we let them 'get away' with a lot of things." JJ listened but still couldn't understand why everyone was so afraid of Daryl, or Merle, "Although, Daryl is the 'nicer' one out of the two, for a lack of a better word." JJ nodded then continued with the washing, waiting for another question to be asked by Lori or someone else.

"But…" She heard Lori quietly continuing with her talking.

JJ smiled, looking at Carol then back at her, "What did you do before all this?"

JJ slowly shook her head, smiling, "I went to University for a few years and I was in the army but not for long."

"How's that?" Andrea asked. JJ looked up at Andrea and held her gaze thinking for a few seconds. She swallowed the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat and looked ahead of her while licking her lips, eyes squinting and a shaky breath escaping her lips.

"My old man got sick; brain tumor. I wasn't on the field. I was more of a 'behind the scenes' kind of soldier so they sent me back. I took care of him while my mum worked to help." Andrea's head fell down. "Why the long face? He survived. My father's one hell of a strong son of a bitch." JJ chuckled as the other women smiled and laughed along with her.

"What state are you from?" Andrea's sister asked.

JJ smiled a bit more, "None. I'm your neighbour. I'm from good ol' Canada."

"What the heck were you doing here?" Jacqui asked, surprised. Everyone laughed quietly then looked at JJ, waiting for an answer.

"Aunt's wedding. Decided to go around and travel. I was supposed to meet my mum and dad in Florida a few weeks later. When this 'thing' broke out, I called them and told them to stay back."

Everyone fell silent, continuing to wash the clothes as thoughts of the first few days of the break out all came back to their minds. JJ thought back on that day, the last time she spoke to her parents before all lines were cut and electricity was cut.

* * *

"_Come on, come on!" She angrily yelled as she waited for her parents to answer. She looked outside the phone booth and stared as families, couples, single people…everyone tried getting to their cars as fast as possible, wanting to get out of the city as fast as possible._

"_Hello? Hello? Anyone there?! Honey…JJ, is that you?" _

_She looked at the phone in her head, "Mum!? Oh god, are you alright? Is dad okay? And Jordan?"_

"_Honey, we're fine! What about you?! I saw what was going on over there! Are you out of the city?"_

_JJ sighed, "…I'm still in…I just wanted to call you. Shit hit the fan everywhere…it's everywhere, mum! I'm not gonna be able to come back, I'll have to make due with going to Atlanta…that's where they're sending everyone."_

_She could hear her mother's sobbing on the other side of the line, "JJ…please come back to us safe. We haven't gone through all of this to lose you, or your dad, or Jordan-"_

"_Or you!" JJ yelled. "Mum, going to the cabin is the safest thing for you guys. It's isolated and it's an island. Bring enough food, supplies and fuel. And block the bridge. Don't make it impossible for you guys to get out, just make it impossible for people to get in, okay?"_

"_But honey-" _

"_NO! Listen to me! You gotta trust me, okay? You want me safe? I gotta make sure you guys are safe so I can get to you guys…I need hope…I need something to hold onto…" She hadn't realized but she had begun sobbing uncontrollably along with her mother. "I'll go to Atlanta, wait out this…whatever this is, and I'll come straight for you guys." _

"_Okay…okay…" The mere whisper of her mum's voice made her shudder. Both had no idea if they'd survive this thing and that realization that this moment was maybe the last time they ever spoke to each other scared them. _

"_I love you mum."_

"_I love you too honey." _

"_Give the phone to dad, I know he's there." JJ ordered. A mere second after, she could hear loud breathing as a husky voice whispered her name. "Dad?"_

"_You better come back. This is an order young lady!" Although it sounded like an order, she knew her dad well enough to know that this was his way of hiding his worry for his baby. _

_JJ chuckled, "Dad…I love you." Silence fell. Her heart broke as sobs coming from her father slowly danced to her ears. JJ struggled to keep her own tears from falling. As hard as doing this was, she knew it had to be done. _

"_I love you too."_

"_Take good care of mum and Jordan for me. Tell him I love him. And take good care of yourself." JJ told her dad._

"_You take g-"_

_JJ's eyes widened as she held the phone away from her ear, "No…no…no…" Whispering this over and over, JJ forgot for a few seconds, that felt like hours, how the world had turned out to be. She let the phone fall and let her back hit the wall, closest to her, of the booth as her thoughts slipped away to a far place she couldn't place…_

* * *

"I miss my vibrator." JJ wiped her head to Andrea so fast it made all the women laugh. JJ tried holding in her laughter but she broke out laughing too.

Carol looked back at her husband then turned back to the women, eyes squinting and whispering, "Me too…"

Dumfounded for a second, a roar of laughter exploded as all the women looked at each other. JJ was drying the tears that were forming with the back of her left hand and shook her head.

"What's so funny?" All the women stopped laughing, looks of disgusts appearing on their face as Carol's husband, Ed, asked the question that killed the mood. For a second JJ could have sworn she had forgotten the end of the world was happening all around them.

Andrea rolled her eyes, "Just swapping war stories." Her eyes drifted to her sister's as the latter rolled her eyes. Steps were heard as they slowly approached the group of girls. With a click of her tongue, Andrea turned to him, "Problem, Ed?"

Cigarette stuck in between his lips, he took it out and stared down at Andrea, "Nothin' that concerns ya. You oughta focus on your work…this ain't no comedy club." The cigarette went back in between his lips and he continued looking down at the girls, thinking he was the boss. JJ looked to her left, noticing Shane playing with Carl and hoping he'd come to calm that son of a bitch down. Tense was the right word to describe the silence that had fallen upon the small group. JJ looked at everyone's faces, none daring to make a move except Andrea. The moment the latter took slow steps towards Ed, JJ let the piece of clothing in the bucket.

"Tell you what Ed, you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcomed to pitch in and do it yourself. Here" She took a small pause and watch as Andrea threw a piece of wet clothing at Ed.

Gritting his teeth, he took it and tossed it, hard, at Andrea, "Ain't ma job, little missy!"

"What's your job, Ed?! Huh? Sittin' on your ass, smoking cigarettes and doing nothing, is that it?!" Getting up and approaching Andrea slowly, JJ knew that she was pushing Ed to his limits and if JJ had been right about her first impression of him…he would soon hit. Had never been a problem before, JJ noted.

"Andrea, stop! It's not worth it." Jacqui said trying to calm things down.

"I sure as hell ain't going to listen to ya whinin', ya mouthy bitch." He tossed his cigarette on the ground and his gaze drifted to Carol, anger present in his posture. "Come on! Let's go!"

Before Carol could move JJ stepped in front of her, "Why don't you walk away and let us finish our work, hm? Blow some steam off…that'll help you. You need a whole lot of steamin' off."

He glared at her, "You shut up." He looked at Carol, "You comin' or what?" She felt Carol moving behind her.

"She's not going…you deaf or what?" JJ glared back as she went to stand closer to Andrea which meant, closer to Ed.

"You better watch what you're sayin' little missy." JJ scoffed.

"I never watch what I'm saying or else, how could I have survived so far? Not by listening to some dipshit husband that likes beating on his wife, thinking he owns the world…"

Carol grabbed her arm, "Don't…please, it's okay."

"It's not!" Andrea looked at Carol. Ed walked to his wife and grabbed her as Andrea and JJ tried stopping him from doing so. He turned around fast, wanting to shove the girls to the ground but he hit Carol instead, the latter falling to the ground. JJ looked from Carol to Ed, mouth opened. She walked to Ed, shoving him as the women were helping Carol up.

"You asswipe, waste of hum-"

His hand shut her up good, sending her flying to the ground. JJ immediately reached for the left side of her face, trying to feel as much of it as she could. She blinked a couple of times and was reminded of herself when, earlier in the day, she hit Daryl in the face.

"I've got to learn how to stop getting in trouble…" She mumbled to herself and she grunted, still on the ground and trying to get up. Yells could be heard and when she looked towards the yelling, she could see Shane on top of Ed, hitting him multiple times. _You're late, _JJ thought as she turned to be on her back, staring at the sky, eyes squinting as she did so.

"JJ! You alright?" Turning to the sound of the voice, JJ nodded slowly towards Amy who had come to check on her.

"I'm fine…I'll be fine. Help me up?" She asked as Amy handed her hand to JJ, whom gladly took it. She shrugged the dust and dirt off as she looked at Shane walking away, having done of hell of a job to him. "Asshole deserves it." JJ spit on the floor as she started walking back to the camp, unconsciously following Shane.

Arriving at the camp, JJ immediately went for the RV as she heard Dale call out to her. She went and sat at the table, trying to catch her breath. She reached once again for her cheek and stroked it as the door to the RV opened.

"What the hell happened down there?" Dale asked as he walked in. "First Shane comes back like all hell broke loose and you come back with one hell of a red cheek!"

JJ swallowed before speaking, "We had a…little situation with Ed down there. I butt in when I shouldn't have had I guess…Carol was hit too…" She whispered that last part. Dale sat across from her and looked at her. "I'll be fine. Just a little swollen."

"Ah, there'll definitely be a bruise there tomorrow." He said as he got up and he got a piece of cloth, taking a bottle of water as he wet the cloth and handed it to her. "Maybe it'll feel better with this."

She raised it in thanks, "Thanks." She let the cloth rest on her skin and looked back at Dale then at the table, "My mum always told me I should learn to control my mouth and what comes out of it…didn't think I'd need it during the apocalypse." Dale chuckled and she smiled but winced once she did.

"I gotta say…that hit you gave Daryl," JJ furrowed her eyebrows, "I've been wanting to do that for a while." They both started laughing as they shook their heads.

"Don't think he likes me very much." She mumbled as Dale chuckled once more.

"He doesn't like a lot of people. He'll be fine, he's a big boy." Dale said, "Don't tell him I said that."

She smiled, "I won't, I promise."

"Go rest for a while, wet that a bit more from time to time and I'll come if we need you." He said as he got up.

"Thank you again, Dale." He took his hat off and smiled. He opened the door to the RV then walked out, leaving her alone. Her smile faded away as she got up and walked to the bed. She sat on it then lied down slowly, looking up. She eventually heard the truck coming back, the women asking about her and Dale telling them she was resting. Telling her she was fine.

* * *

It was an hour or two before the sun went down that Carol stepped into the RV, slowly walking in the back of it. She could tell from her hands that she was nervous as she quietly knocked, making her presence known although JJ already knew she was going to come see her. JJ looked up and smiled at her as she sat down on the bed.

"Are you okay?" JJ talked first as Carol let her head fall.

"Yes, I-"

JJ scoffed, "I shouldn't have asked…you're not." Carol nodded. "Carol, I…I don't want you to blame yourself for me getting hit. I've got a loud mouth and I tend to piss off people, so all of that happened because of me. And I guarantee Andrea would blame herself too for pissing Ed off…"

As Carol stayed quiet, looking at her reminded JJ of her good friend back in high school who was getting beaten every time she spoke back by her father. The days of when she came back with bruises, trying to hide them with foundation but being unsuccessful at doing so, were a pain to remember. Trying to convince her to tell someone was easier said than done, she'd shrink and shake in fear of someone else knowing. Kept blaming herself, saying she deserved it when she clearly did not. She was good at hiding it too…it took JJ two years before fully realizing what was going on, didn't mean she had no doubts though. And seeing Carol reminded her of the sadness she had the moment she laid eyes on her friend. Never a bruise on her face and all of her bruises would heal, JJ knew that but what was more important is that she knew her heart was never going to heal from these bruises, that wound that would keep haunting her until…if ever she'd heal from that, now that she thought of it. She didn't know how it was, never did and never will, and she could only imagine that pain. The thoughts that went through their heads, blaming themselves for something they didn't do or deserve. Thinking that trying to fight back was a mistake or wrong. JJ regretted opening her mouth up and getting Carol hit but knowing, and seeing, Shane beat the crap out of him made her happy. She thought she was sick for thinking that way but it was simply what everyone else was thinking. For him to finally get what he deserved, to endure the pain he so often gave.

"You didn't deserve getting hit…" Her small, quiet and frail voice mumbled. JJ looked up at her, biting down on her lower lip as she looked up at Carol, sadness in her eyes.

"Neither did you…"

* * *

**So there it is! First, I want to apologize deeply about how late I am to post this! Life has been insane. So quick explanation: I'm from Canada and I'm moving out of my province, seven hours out so I had to 'quit' college (CEGEP here) and I now need to find a job. I'm also moving from a French-speaking province to an English-speaking one, so adjusting is needed. It's been completely insane! But now, I guess I'll try working things out when it comes to writing this story. **

**So, guys, I REALLY want to know what YOU guys think of this chapter. I've tried being subtle about certain things that we'll discover later on in the story but if you guys have any opinion on this, on what's going to happen or ANYTHING then tell me! :) But what did you guys think of Daryl and JJ's first meeting? I pondered on this a lot and I still don't know how I feel about it but I guess it's okay. Not too confident am I, huh?**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter and please, give me some feedback. No bashing. Only nice comments or constructive ones, the latter being appreciated a whole lot. **

**I do not own nothing of The Walking Dead, just my OC. **

**ENJOY & REVIEW :)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! Sorry for this almost two weeks before this chapter arrived. I was lazy, being very honest. Only had two paragraphs left to write as most of the chapter was written the day I posted the other one. **

* * *

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 4**

"Never Safe"

Carol stared at JJ for what seemed like hours but was in fact only a few seconds before Dale came in the RV. He stopped in his steps when he saw Carol standing there before JJ. He took his hat off then slowly walked beside Carol, giving her a small smile before looking at JJ.

"Amy and Andrea caught a lot of fish. And for it to go quicker with cleaning them, they were wondering if you knew how to clean them…" He let his sentence end in a whisper as JJ looked outside the small window.

"Yeah…I'll be there in a minute." Dale smiled then quietly left as if knowing he had interrupted on something, whether he knew it was important or not, he had no idea but he had walked in on a conversation between the both of them.

JJ smiled, "I better go," Carol looked at her, "if you ever need me…for anything, you know where to find me." She slowly got up, letting the cloth she held on the table as she contoured Carol before walking out of the RV. She felt everyone's eyes on her figure as she walked out. She raised a hand, wanting to indicate she was fine as she walked towards Andrea and Amy. She took a chair and sat on it, starting to work on the fish Andrea had just handed to her. A mix of a comfortable and awkward silence fell on the three women as they cleaned the fish but JJ tried not to concentrate on that as she preferred concentrating on the sounds around her. She had noticed that a man, Jim if she remembered right, was now tied to a tree for reasons unknown to JJ but she didn't question it. The heat was going down just like the sun was slowly disappearing behind a mountain of some sort and people at the camp found themselves much more comfortable walking around then they did during the day when the sun was at its highest, and hottest, point. Finishing her first fish, she took another one out as her eyes laid themselves on Morales bringing rocks over to where they would cook the fishes later on. He made a wall around the fire so no one, or walkers, could see it from anywhere. Her thoughts wandered off to the men whom had gone to fetch Merle and their undeniable absence, wishing everything had gone just fine. She could tell Shane and Lori were thinking something somewhat similar to what she had been thinking as they looked from time to time to the road where they had arrived the day before. Shane would often look at Lori when she walked by him or was picking something up, making JJ frowning every time she would watch him do that. Once he caught her catching him do that and expecting him to glare at her, she found herself quite surprised when he simply looked away. That was the last time she saw him look at Lori that way.

By the time the sun had fully gone down, the girls were done with cleaning the bucket of fish and they were getting ready to bring them over to the fire. They all sat around the fire as they, one by one, starting cooking and eating the fish. Dale had found some canned rice and that's what dinner was made of, fish and rice but they wouldn't complain. JJ certainly would not, this was probably one of the best meal she had in a month. She reached for the band that held her hair together and took it out, letting her black hair fall on her shoulders. From the corner of her eyes she noticed that Jim, whom had been previously tied to a tree, was now sitting with them. The atmosphere was different than it was earlier in the day as people were laughing, talking and most importantly, eating a good meal. Smiles were plastered on people's face and one face noticeably absent was Ed's. JJ had wondered if he'd show up and kill the mood just like he had earlier but decided not to dwell on it as she could see Carol and her daughter, Sophia, enjoying the time and the meal. JJ looked down at her plate and poked at the rest of her second serving of fish in it, almost done with and too full to even attempt to eat the rest. She put her plate down and patted her belly as a sigh escaped her lips, a content one at that. She watched as Amy got up to the bathroom, throwing a small comment that made the whole camp smile and laugh. JJ reached to get her bottle of water but suddenly stopped. She watched as the group kept talking, exchanging stories of their lives previous to the apocalypse and telling stories about memories or experiences they've had. Nostalgia could be seen on certain faces, missing the life that had been so good to them. Some were displaying signs of sadness, having lost closed ones to this thing and knowing they'd never come back. And others were angry, angry that they couldn't have done more…or anger for something unexpected that had happened, anger that could very well be dangerous for anyone if it ever exploded. JJ had no idea where this group would go or how long, or far, they'd survive in the near future but she knew it hadn't been an easy road and it wasn't going to get any easier. A breeze passed as the hair on her arms raised, prompting JJ to look around the camp for something that would not show. Her heart was beating faster and that same fear, the one that had taken over her before Morgan saved her, came back. That 'Am I going to live?' fear. Questioning her own survival at that moment wasn't helping at all and not having her weapon, or any for that matter, simply made the tension in her body much worse. Her thoughts wandered to her weapon, weapon that was in the RV. She looked back at it and when she did, that's when she saw it.

That's when those blood curling screams you'd usually hear in the movies happened except it was real and it was Amy screaming, having just stepped out of the RV and now with a walker biting her arm. The walker then bit her neck as another scream made its way out of her mouth. All the smiles had turned into expressions of fear.

"Walkers!" Shane called as he reached for Lori and Carl, telling them to go near the RV. JJ, still in her thoughts, got up and stepped back only to fall down, having tripped over her chair. Screams of terror were heard everywhere at the camp as more and more walkers came into camp. Shots were fired, bats and axes were swung, but sometimes, sadly, the inevitable couldn't be avoided. People were bitten and walkers were killed. JJ was crawling fast on the ground as she tried to muster some strength to get up. As she did, she looked up and Dale tossed her a pistol. Catching it in her hands, she started walking and shooting any walker that was in her way. The fear was still present and the screams of agony simply made concentrating harder. From the corner of her eyes JJ noticed T-Dog, which made her stop in her tracks. _They're back!? _

"UGH!" JJ screamed as a walker grabbed her by the hair, surprising her as she dropped her gun, and she felt it bring her closer to its body as she jabbed him a few times with her elbow. She leaned forward then head-butted the walker. Luckily it left her hair alone but as she turned around to run away, she came face to face with another walker, "Shit." She whispered under her breath now stuck between two walkers. She looked back and forth between both walkers, moving to one as she hit him with one of her legs and as it fell down she took a nearby rock and began hitting it in the head as hard as she could until its body stopped moving. Just as she turned around the other walker was almost up in her face, making her trip again as she fell beside the body of the walker she had just killed. With both legs she tried pushing herself back as far away as she could from the walker but it obviously wouldn't give up on its meal. She slowly backed up to a tree and found herself looking around for any weapon. She had dropped the rock a meter behind the walker and dropped her gun.

As she looked up at the walker she only saw it stumble for a few steps before it fell down at her feet. She stared at it with wide eyes and noticed what was the print of a shot at the back of its head. Looking up she saw Daryl, shotgun in hand, as he let the gun fall to his side while looking down at JJ. Amidst the gun shots, she hadn't heard Daryl shoot the walker. Her breathing was brisk and brief as she nodded to Daryl, thanking him. Not expecting much from him, she found herself surprised when he gave a slight nod that if she hadn't paid any attention, well, she wouldn't have seen it. Still under his gaze she slowly got up as the amount of gun shots were reduced to nothing. A lot of people had been bitten, killed, but a lot had survived too. She slowly walked as she was passing Glenn whom had been pacing, still in shock. She reached her hand out and grabbed Glenn's elbow as he turned around, she shook her head as he reached out for a hug.

"You alright?" He asked. She nodded, hear head still in the crook of his neck, then looked back at Daryl as she leaned out of the hug.

"Yeah, thanks to Daryl." Glenn nodded, his mind not totally registering what had just happened, like most people. They slowly walked to the RV and everyone hugged, making sure they were all alright. She walked up to Rick and as he looked at her, he nodded then walked to her as he pulled her into a one armed hug. It lasted a few seconds before she simply turned around and did like everyone else, looking at all the bodies whether they were walkers or not. Crouching down she brought both of her hands to her mouth, a feeling of sickness taking over her. She tried swallowing the lump that kept on reappearing once she'd swallow it but the smell eventually got to her. She got up and walked behind the RV, reaching for her hair as she held it back and let all of the fish come out the way it came in. She was bent over for a few minutes before actually attempting to stand back up, straightening her hair out. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and walked back to the front of the RV.

"Dale, Shane, Daryl and I will stay up, keep an eye on the camp for the night. Try to get as much sleep as you can…we'll figure out what to do tomorrow morning." Rick said, Lori walking to him and giving him a kiss and she waited for Carl to hug his father. Everyone was shaking as they nodded and walked to their tents. Rick, Shane and Daryl automatically started picking bodies up to put them away from the tents, so to give them a 'comfortable' night of sleep…as comfortable as it could get. Dale went back on top of the RV with his gun and was on the lookouts for any other walkers. JJ slowly walked to the RV and noticed Andrea hovering over Amy. She was dead. She looked on for a few seconds then climbed the ladder that led to the top of the RV. Dale turned his head quick as he heard movement but relaxed once he saw who it was.

"You should be sleeping. You'll need the rest." Dale told her as he looked over at her bloodied and dirtied clothing. Whispering, he asked, "Were you scratched or bit…?"

She abruptly turned to him, whispering as she shook, "I don't think so, no…I was stuck between two walkers. Killed one with a rock but I head-butted the other one, didn't kill it though…" Obviously it hadn't killed it but that's all she could think about. The fact she couldn't have done more to save her own ass. "Daryl killed it…saved my ass when I couldn't…" Tears started falling as she tried looking over at the scratches she had, trying to figure out if it was a walker scratch or just a scratch. She looked up at Dale, shaking her head, "I'm not cut out for this world, Dale. I shouldn't have gotten my ass saved so many times…" she suddenly stopped and gave a small chuckle.

"Don't think like that…we all thought like that at least once, or more, since all this started. No one is thinking straight. We've all thought things we would have never thought before! Me included. It's us trying to survive. We can't be the nicest of persons in a world like this but we can try…it can take time but we can try…" He told her as she looked at him. She nodded her head then looked ahead.

"Is it weird that my biggest regret right now is punching Daryl?" She said as Dale gave her a small smile, "I'm not usually someone who punches people…"

"You tried helping Rick…" She laughed.

"Rick's a big boy, he doesn't need my help." Her head fell down as she bit her lip, "Truth is, he reminds me of my dad. I'm a daddy's girl and I'm very protective of my dad. He always had my back and made sure I was fine, no matter what. And Rick did that with me, a stranger. Had my back, I had his and I knew we'd be fine. Being honest, again, I'm beginning to regret a lot of things right now."

Dale let a hand fall on her shoulder, "Shock will do that do ya. Will make you think a whole damn lot." She shook her head. "You should go and head to sleep."

"I prefer staying up here, if that's okay with you?" She asked.

He gave a small smile, "I could use the company." Crossing her legs, she sat beside Dale and looked out in the woods. Her body was exhausted but she couldn't bring herself to go to sleep.

* * *

JJ was still sitting on top of the RV long after the sun had gone up. People had started moving around camp, trying to keep themselves occupied as the men moved the bodies. Also making sure the walkers were dead for sure…as dead as they could be with their heads crushed in. She knew Andrea was still with Amy long after she died, waiting for her to come back as a walker. Looking to her left she noticed Carol approaching Ed's dead body and at the same time approaching Daryl whom had been crushing walkers' head for a while with a pickaxe. She couldn't hear them talk but she could see Carol reach for the pickaxe as Daryl slowly reached his hand out, giving her the axe. She watched as Carol slowly lifted the pickaxe up as she let the first blow to Ed's head crush his skull. Watching on for a few seconds she decided to finally step down from the RV, wanting to do something. She walked to Glenn and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Take a break, I'll take over." She said as he sighed, taking the gloves off as he handed them to JJ. She watched as he walked towards what seemed to be his tent and entered it. She looked back and T-Dog nodded his head as they walked to the body of a walker, grabbing it and throwing it into a pile of other bodies on fire. They did that for the last few bodies that weren't people from the group; throwing them into the fire, watching them burn.

"A walker bit Jim!" The words that left Jacqui's mouth had them alert and up, walking towards Jim whom had started to back away towards where T-Dog and her were. Jim looked around and tried reassuring everybody as he repeated the words 'I'm okay, I'm okay' to them.

"Show us, show us now!" Daryl walked up to him but before he could reach him Jim turned around and grabbed a shovel as he started swinging the shovel around, wanting to keep everyone far away from him. But everyone kept walking towards him still. In a midst of screams telling Jim to let the shovel down, T-Dog took it upon him to do something and lunged at Jim, grabbing his arms to stop him from swinging the shovel and injuring someone. Daryl ran towards Jim as soon as T-Dog grabbed him and lifted his shirt up, revealing an extremely bloody bite mark on his stomach. Everyone, including T-Dog and Daryl, stepped back as Jim kept whispering the words 'I'm okay, I'm okay' as if reassuring himself and the people around him. Rick walked to him and convinced Jim to go sit on the RV's bumper while everyone else debated over what to do with this situation.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl and be done with it." Was Daryl's solution to Jim and Amy. JJ did not particularly agree with that and didn't want to hear them talking about possibly killing Jim. She knew that with Amy it was inevitable but with Jim…if Rick was right and the CDC was in fact looking for a cure then maybe they could help Jim. But another par of JJ thought that…it should have happened a while ago, the cure and it hadn't. She went and sat on a log, a hand going up to her head as she massaged the right side of it. The wheels in her head started working fast and the enormous headache had awoken hold thoughts.

Screams were heard and she whipped her head around. Daryl had raised his pickaxe and walked to Jim, trying to blow his brains out. She got up, walking to them, as she watched Rick pull his gun out, pointing it at Daryl's head, Shane coming in between Jim and Daryl. The latter's gaze was intense as he looked at Jim but just as intense when he turned around to look at Rick.

"That's funny…coming from the man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl said as he lowered the pickaxe. He let it drop to the ground as Rick murmured something JJ couldn't catch. Daryl walked away from the small group then slowly made his way to his tent, throwing a glance at her as he walked by. Rick had brought Jim inside the RV not long after.

Moments later Amy had turned and eventually killed by Andrea. It was a scene hard to watch for anyone as it proved that no one was safe. Absolutely no one. JJ had volunteered to stay with Jim while everyone had gone to bury their people and JJ honestly did not feel like she should be there as she barely knew most of the people they had lost. She sat next to the bed and watched Jim intensely, making sure he was fine. They kept the silence in the RV. Only his groaning was heard every time he felt some sort of pain surging through his body.

"You're quiet aren't ya?" She turned her head to Jim as he grinned, pain still evident in his face.

"It depends. I'm on my quiet fix right now…I guess." She mumbled and he laughed. He laughed. A eyebrow cocked, she couldn't help but chuckle. "What?"

He waved a few fingers, "Nothing. Thought you were a fiery one after that hit you gave Daryl." Her head fell the moment those words escaped his lips.

"Yeah, well, I'm starting to regret it even more now. I mean, what was I thinking? Arriving into this group and not even a full day in, I punch someone I don't even know." She exclaimed but then looked at Jim. "Sorry…can you tell I regret it?"

He chuckled, "Just a little." He winced and started to cough badly. JJ took the bowl near the bed and brought it up to his lips as he threw up. She turned her head, the smell all-too familiar to her. After a few seconds the coughing and throwing up was over as she put the bowl down on the floor. She took a rag and wet it, giving it to Jim because of his fever.

It was almost more than an hour later someone came back into the RV and told her that they were heading to the CDC. JJ missed the small meeting but being desperate to not be alone, she would go anywhere as long as she was with the group. JJ asked Lori to take over as she proposed to go and help everyone pack. Which she did and before leaving for good, Morales made the announcement that him and his family would not stay with them. She backed away and found herself standing, very awkwardly, next to Daryl as they looked on the goodbyes being exchanged. She bit on her lower lip and nodded when Morales turned his head to her. She was sad she didn't actually know the man, or his family, a bit more as it made the goodbye awkward. She hated awkwardness. She smiled sadly as she slowly started to turn to walk to the RV but she noticed a note on the red car Glenn came back to the camp with.

She walked to it and noticed the note was for Morgan. _Lord…_she had almost forgotten about him and she hoped he hadn't gone to Atlanta. She brought her hand up to let her fingers slide unto the piece of paper. Her fingers lingered on Morgan's name.

"JJ!" Dale called as she turned around. "We're going soon." She nodded then looked up at the sky for a few seconds. Bringing her head back down, she walked towards the RV and got it as she sat in the back with Jacqui.

And that was when the group left the quarry.

And that's when JJ asked herself as she looked at Jim: could it get any worse?

* * *

**So this is it. Chapter four of Scratching and Clawing. Hm, honestly I am not too satisfied but I also think this had to do with how I feel lately (not good enough). I reread the story and was okay with it until I reread the part where JJ hits Daryl and I wasn't happy but at least it's different. I keep telling myself that. It makes for a different kind of relationship developing between the two. I mean, JJ isn't perfect...she's a human being with flaws and trying to adjust to this new world, she's confused. I actually started thinking I may want to stop the story but then I read all the small story plans I wrote for this story and smiled. I want to continue it. **

**So it's a very tiny chapter but I just had to get it out. Not the best but I promise to work hard, and even harder, on the next one. I just can't wait to get to the farm part of the story. I like it much more. Haha. **

**Sorry for the bad English...I stopped attending my english school three weeks ago and I'm in a French environment. I'm losing my English but I'm trying to read a lot and work hard on it. **

**No bashing but nice and constructive comments are appreciated. **


	6. Chapter 5

**Here is chapter five! Enjoy!**

* * *

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 5**

"I'll Remain"

It was when Jim was dragged out of the RV that reality set in for her. This world…this disease was just going to be the death of them. One day it would be. Seeing Jim suffering from that bite and what it did to his body now scared her. Living in this new world was a pain but would it be worth it? That question arose in her mind quite fast and she found herself thinking…again. Seeing how much it pained everyone to see Jim the way he was made her wonder if she should actually try to get closer to someone. To let herself get attached…because, whether she wanted it or not, everyone would die one day, from a walker bite or from another human being. It was life.

She stood a few meters away from the tree where he had been sat. 'Another damn tree' was what he said. She silently chuckled as everyone took their turn to say goodbye. Some of them talked and some just nodded. She stood behind Glenn and after he gave his nod to Jim she slowly walked up to him, bending down to his level.

"Stop bein' so quiet." He coughed as she reached to give a quick squeeze to one of his hands. "Talk. Make a place within the group and survive."

She nodded, "Bye Jim." He weakly nodded and smiled as she got up before turning around. She caught Daryl's gaze and quickly nodded before joining the rest of the group. She walked up to Jacqui whom was sitting on the stairs of the RV, crying. She quickly looked up at JJ and got up before bringing her into her arms, hugging her tight while crying. Surprised by the sudden affection from the woman holding her, JJ slowly wrapped her arms around Jacqui and hugged her. It dawned on her that she hadn't cried much since meeting Morgan and Rick. And as Jacqui backed away from the hug, the hands of the older woman were quickly drying her tears telling her it was going to be okay. That everything was going to be fine. Nodding continuously, JJ eventually smiled a bit, thanking Jacqui whom returned the smile. They all returned to their cars, guilt ridden but trying to reassure themselves it was the right thing to do because it was Jim's decision. Just because it was the right decision didn't mean they had to feel like it was right. Most of them certainly didn't feel right.

* * *

The ride to the CDC had been surprisingly quick or maybe it was just all that thinking that had made the time seem quicker than it seemed. As the RV slowed down and JJ got up to exit it, she, and everyone else, were obviously not prepared to what was there waiting.

"There's no one." She thought as she got out, following after Glenn and Jacqui. The smell that hit her nostrils immediately made her want to throw up. Putting her small bag on her shoulder she quickly followed the group, hand covering her nose. The walk from the cars to the entrance was quick and quiet. The only sounds were those of flies and of both Rick and Shane telling everyone to be quiet. Bodies. Hundreds of bodies were on the ground leading up to the entrance of the CDC. Rick and Shane started checking if the shutters could be opened as the rest of the group went from looking behind them for walkers to the two men now pounding on the doors.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog said.

Rick turned to him then back to the shutters, "Then why are these shutters down?"

"Walkers!" Daryl called out and JJ whipped her head around quickly to said walker. The former aimed his crossbow at it and shot, hitting it in the head. He angrily turned around to Rick then yelled, "You led us into a graveyard!"

"He made a call." Dale yelled back as Shane was seen approaching Daryl quickly, trying to stop him from hurting Rick.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl yelled back as Shane pushed him back by hitting his chest telling him to shut up.

Panic quickly set in as they tried thinking of a plan on the spot. Shane said Fort Benning but then that was shot down when Andrea reminded the group of the need of fuel and food. Without forgetting the distance of 125 miles. Turning around again the amount of walkers coming their way had slowly increased.

"We need to get out of here, now!" She finally spoke up and was slowly followed by Carol and Andrea.

"She's right. We need to go!"

"It's getting dark, we shouldn't be here!"

"Come on then!"

Rick was clearly torn in between leaving the CDC or staying. Had he hoped for too much with thinking the CDC could be it? That it was still up and running…

"The camera. It moved." Rick said.

"You imagined it." T-Dog told Rick as he argued he had not. Shane walked up to Rick and grabbed him, wanting to bring him back to the car so they could leave but he fought back. She began shaking and yelling, just like the others, to leave. There was screaming and crying, it was chaos. She was scared, they were scared…

"Rick, he's right we have to go!" JJ yelled over the screaming as she approached both men. Shane then started dragging Rick by the arm. And he finally decided it was time to go.

"Alright, let's go." He said as they started walking back but clanking noises were heard. They unsurely turned around and there it was: the door was open. A collective sound of gasps was heard once they all realized the door had opened, that Rick had been right. They all hurried inside but all of the men were ready for anything to happen. The cocking of a gun followed by all the other guns coming from the group were heard. A man. His gun was raised and ready to shoot.

"Any of you infected?" He shouted as he put his gun down, the group following what he did.

Rick slowly stepped up, "One of our group was…he didn't make it."

The man stepped forward and showed himself. Lack of sleep evident, uncontrollable hair, loose clothing on and a gun, semi automatic if she guessed right, was in his hand, "Why are you here? What do you all want?"

A sigh escaped Rick's lips "A chance…"

"That's asking for an awful lot these days…" The man answered.

Rick shook his head, "I know…I know…"

The man looked at each person in the group then lifted his chin up, "You all submit to a blood test, that's my price of admission."

Another big collective sigh of relief escaped everyone's lips, "That we can do." Rick said, the tension almost gone from his previously tense shoulders. The man walked closer.

"If you have anything to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." He warned as Shane pointed to T-Dog, Glenn and Daryl to go with him to grab all of the stuff needed.

"Dale, man the door!" The old man complied quickly and stood near the door as the four of them left. Turning around to Jacqui, JJ approached her and smiled.

"You were right. It's going to be alright." Jacqui smiled and hugged her. JJ held onto her for a few seconds. All the women waited for the men to come back and when they did, they were handed the backpacks or duffle bags. JJ when to T-Dog as he handed her one of the duffle bags.

"Vi, seal the man entrance and kill the power up here." The man said as he turned to Rick.

"Rick Grimes."

"Dr. Edwin Jenner."

_Jenner_. They quickly walked to the elevator and everyone squeezed in as best as they could. As the elevator started moving Dr. Jenner started looking at all the people he had just saved.

"Doctors always go around packin' heat like that?" Daryl's voice interrupted the awkward silence.

Jenner turned his head towards Daryl, "There were plenty left lying around…I familiarized myself." He turned his head towards the door then back at the group, "Beside, you all look harmless enough."

Jenner looked down at Carl and smiled, "Except you. I'll have to keep an eye on you." Carl smiled lightly. The elevator doors opened quickly after that and everyone emerged from it, Jenner in front as he led the group through a hallway.

"Are we underground?" Carol shyly asked.

Jenner looked back, "Yes. Are you claustrophobic?"

"A little…"

"Try not to think about it." Jenner eventually led them to a bigger room shaped like a circle with work stations barely visible. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." Lights flickered and the room became clearer to see. It was…empty. _He can't be the only one…_As everyone stopped moving after taking a few steps into the room, Doctor Jenner turned around, "Welcome to zone five."

Jenner then made his way towards the middle of the work stations as Rick followed quickly behind him, "Where is everybody? The doctors? The staff?"

The doc slowly stopped in his steps, turning to Rick and the group, "I'm it. I'm all there's left. It's just me here."

Lori spoke up, "What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?"

"Vi, say hello to our guests…tell them: welcome." Jenner ordered.

"Hello guests, welcome."

"I'm all there's left. I'm sorry." Jenner said, looking directly at the group. The sudden grim atmosphere from earlier had come back. They had been so hopeful for the CDC to be a successful trip, to maybe find some answers that they hadn't thought about the possibility of it being like everywhere else. "Let's get started on those blood test."

They all followed him to a conference-like looking room and one by one sat on a chair facing Jenner as he took some blood samples. It wasn't very long until he got to the last person: Andrea. It was only when she got up that they were reminded of the lack of food present in their stomachs. Jenner, with the blood samples in hand, told the group to follow him as he led them to, what looked like, a cafeteria. T-Dog walked to one of the shelves and noticed canned food. He turned around to the group and smiled.

* * *

With all of their stomachs full, the group was enjoying how the evening was moving on. They reminisced of good times, they told jokes, they laughed and they felt safe. Something they hadn't felt in a long time. They could forget, only for the moment being, all of what had happened the day before and they could truthfully enjoy a nice meal without being scared a walker would creep out of the bushes. JJ watched, from her place next to Glenn, as Dale leaned over the table with a bottle of wine in hand to fill up Lori's glass.

"You know, children in Italy have a little bit of wine with their dinner. And in France too!" Dale claimed as he laughed.

Lori looked at Carl, a small smile on her face, "Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some." She took a sip of wine and then met Rick's gaze.

"Come on, what's it gonna hurt?" He said with a smile on his face. Lori looked at him with a smile then shook her head while laughing. "Come on." She nodded and then Dale poured Carl a small amount of wine. Everyone was quiet as Carl brought the glass up to his lips and took a sip of the wine.

He made a face of pure disgust, "Ewwww!" Everyone started laughing as they looked at Carl. Lori reached for her son's glass then poured his glass into hers.

"That's my boy, that's my boy."

JJ smiled and sipped on her glass of water, "Not you Glenn." She looked up at Daryl as he looked at Glenn. "Keep drinkin' little man, I wanna see how red your face can get." Glenn awkwardly laughed as everyone else joined in the laughter.

"Hey, JJ! Aren't you gonna drink a little bit?" T-Dog asked as he offered a glass of wine. She looked at it for a mere second then wave her hand at it.

"Nah." They all looked at her, "I don't drink, thanks." She gave a small smile.

"Ah come on, this is a celebration. Have a small drink." Dale said with a small smile on his face.

She leaned back and smiled, "I really don't drink, end of the world or not." She chuckled, "But thanks."

Dale was about to say something else before Rick interrupted, "It seems to me that we haven't thanked our host properly." He said with glass in his hand. Everyone's gaze went from JJ to Rick and then to Jenner. JJ sighed then mouthed 'thank you' at Rick, whom only nodded and smiled. T-Dog raised his glass.

"He is more than just our host!" Everyone shouted their thanks.

"Hear, hear!"

"To you doc!"

"Booyah!"

Shouts of 'Booyahs' were heard once Daryl had shouted it. Everyone started cheering for Jenner as they kept laughing. Doctor Jenner simply lifted his glass and gave a nod at Rick. Clinking of glass were heard and the cheering slowly hushed down.

"So when are you going to tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane's voice brought silence. "All the uh, the other doctors what were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" Rick rose to his feet and looked at Shane.

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now." Shane looked at his friend and laughed as he watched him sit back down.

"Whoa, wait a second." He paused. He licked his lips and continued, "This is why we're here, right? This was your move…supposed to find all the answers. Instead we, uh, we found him. Found one man. Why?" Rick sent Shane a look filled with anger as Shane ignored it and turned his head to Jenner, whom everyone was now listening to.

"When things got bad a lot of people just left, went of to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon for overrun, the rest bolted." He explained.

"Every last one?" Shane asked.

Jenner looked at Shane, "No, many couldn't face walking out the door…"

"They were ashamed…" JJ said.

He simply looked and nodded at her before returning his gaze to Shane, "They…opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

Andrea spoke up, "You didn't leave. Why?"

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

Glenn got up and as he walked, he looked at Shane, "Dude, you are such a buzzkill man."

* * *

"Most of the facility is powered down, including housing, so you'll have to make do here."

After dinner, Jenner was now leading them to rooms where they would sleep, "The couches are comfortable. But there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws powers. The same applies. If you shower, go easy on the hot water!"

Everyone stopped and smiled. Glenn slowly turned to everyone, "Hot water?"

T-Dog smiled the biggest smile she had ever seen, "That's what the man said."

Everyone hurried to find a room, stack their bags and get ready for a warm shower. JJ found a room at the end of the hallway and slowly opened it. _Nice…cozy enough. _She smiled and closed the door as she dropped her bag on the couch. She looked around then walked to her bag. She opened it and reached for whatever clothing she had left. She pulled out a long sleeved black oversized shirt, some jogging pants she had found and some underwear. She walked out of the room and walked towards the showers. She opened the door leading to the showers and entered. She was the first one to have reached the shower and a content sigh escaped her lips.

When the water hit her skin a small laugh escaped her lips as she brought her hands up to her head, letting her fingers untangling the knots in her hair. She turned and grabbed a bar of soap as she gently rubbed it on her skin. A smile kept on appearing on her lips the more time went by. She didn't want to get out. It took only a couple minutes before she started to hear the laughter coming from the group. Their joy was evident. So was hers.

When she was done with the shower, JJ wrapped a towel around her small figure and walked to the sink. She turned around and stared at the big scar coming down from her neck as it disappeared under the towel but she knew where it ended. She grabbed her clothing and started getting dressed. Not long after, Lori walked up to where her clothing also was.

"Had a nice shower?" Lori asked, smiling.

JJ laughed, "Oh yes, yes. Haven't been this happy in a while."

"I feel like this is the best thing that happened in…in a while." Lori said as she brushed her hair.

JJ looked at her, "Yeah…hey, could I borrow your brush?" Lori smiled and handed the brush to JJ.

"Thank you." JJ started brushing her hair as Lori got dressed.

"Can I ask you a question?" Lori asked as JJ nodded. "Why is it you don't drink?"

JJ laughed, "It's not too complicated, really. My father loved his alcohol but when he got sick my mum threw all of it away. And asked of my brother and me to never drink in the house so we didn't. And always being the sober one around my friends made me realize how destructive it can be. And not only within my friends…in the family also…So I decided to never drink."

"Never?"

"Never."

Lori walked up to JJ and leaned against the wall, "You never had a drink in your life?"

"Of course I drank. I drank before he got sick. I was quite fond of my alcohol too but not drinking made me realize how much I liked my 'new sober' life. So," She paused, "I stopped drinking."

Lori nodded, "End of the world or not?"

JJ smiled, "End of the world or not." They laughed. "Here." She gave Lori's brush back to her and grabbed her dirty clothes, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight JJ." Lori told her as JJ started walking away. "Hey!" JJ turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Does it stand for something?" JJ furrowed her eyebrows, "Does JJ stand for something?"

"Yeah. I just don't like using my full name. So I became JJ. And I'll remain JJ." She smiled and Lori cocked an eyebrow as she joined JJ in her laughter. JJ then waved and left the showers.

She had wondered how long it would take for someone to notice her name and it hasn't been all that long. All she could do is smile and she found herself wondering if people who noticed made up names in their minds. She laughed to herself as she turned the corner and walked a couple of steps before entering her room. She put her dirty clothes on her bed and folded them, telling herself she'd ask Jenner about where she could clean them.

"Doctor Jenner…" She mumbled. "Doctor…doctor…" She snapped her neck to the door and walked towards it. She opened the door and started walking down the hallway towards the big room. A door opened and Daryl emerged out of it as she stopped dead in her tracks. He turned to his right and stopped when he noticed her. She bit her lower lip then continued walking as he did too. She noticed that in his hands he held some clean clothes as he walked past her. Just as he passed her, she turned around. "Hey!"

His steps slowed down and eventually stopped as he turned around, squinting his eyes at her. He slowly but surely took a few careful steps towards her, "What do ya want?"

Why was she fidgety all of a sudden? JJ also took a few steps towards, "Well, I just wanted to say sorry." The moment the last word came out, Daryl furrowed his eyebrows. "For that punch on my first day at camp…I shouldn't have."

He brought his hand up and started chewing on his thumb, "It was a pretty mean right hook." He mumbled as she blinked a few times. "I've had worse but never do that again."

"Or what?" She asked as she stepped forward a little. He lifted his head up and glared.

"Do ya really want to know?" She tried not smiling and succeeded but she had a smile in her eyes that Daryl noticed and which he did not understand.

She waved a hand, "No, no, that's fine. I've learned my lesson." She sighed, "Anyways, I'm really, really sorry for punching you…and thank you." She smiled this time around and simply turned her back to him as she walked to the big room. She didn't have to look back to know he was still looking at her figure, a frown on his face. Probably wondering what it was all about. Did she feel better? A bit. She'd always remember that punch and regret it. She was still smiling when she walked into the big room and saw Jenner sitting at one of the work stations. She slowly approached him as her steps became louder and attracted his attention. He turned around and looked at her.

"I'm guessing everyone is taking showers." He said as she took place at another work station right next to him.

She laughed, "Yes. And they're enjoying it." He quietly laughed. She smiled then her lips fell into a thin line. He looked at her as he stopped doing his work.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

She shook her head, "No…I just wanted to say thank you. We all really needed this."

He nodded and smiled, "That's not all is it?"

She sighed and looked at him, "Doctor Jenner..." She started as she inhaled deeply before asking this man, who had done so much for the whole group, for help, again. She could see the confusion written in his face as the seconds passed by.

"I need a favor."

* * *

**WOW. I am deeply, deeply and utterly deeply sorry for not posting. It's been a little over a month and I've had the worst month. Plenty of stress, no sleep and such. But I did enjoy it, it wasn't all that horrible. Enough of that. **

**Here is Chapter five! Finally. I'm not fully satisfied with it though. The original chapter covered the whole CDC part but as I read it again today, I just erased most of it and started all over again. ****I seriously cannot wait to get to the farm and the prison. I've been actually writing a lot in the past month but mostly ideas for the future. I've struggled with a lot when it comes to my writing. So yeah.**

**Hope you enjoy! Constructive comments & reviews are loved. No bashing, if you don't like just don't read. **

**Enjoy xx :D**


	7. Chapter 6

**So this is it. Chapter six guys! Finished this before the mid-season finale but it was starting so I posted it afterwards. Sorry, I had to recover from it. Haha. Enjoy. I do not own anything. **

**P.S. The italics part, I left just like that because they're more like quick recollections to JJ than flashbacks. They're kind of both but yeah, not separated because I preferred it that way.**

* * *

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 6**

"Dead No Matter What"

"_I need a favor." _

She was lying in bed and waited to hear someone come out of their room before getting up and walking to meet them in the kitchen. She hadn't slept at all seeing as she couldn't bring herself to do so. This was too good to be true. She believed that the moment she would let herself forget about the world outside something was going to happen and burst her bubble of happiness, as small as it was. She couldn't let herself be happy at this moment as she didn't want to lose hope that one day she'd be. As days went by she believed more and more that this apocalypse was never going to end. That for of their lives, no matter how long that was, they'd have to fight.

"Knock, knock." Someone outside the door knocked and said simultaneously.

"Come in." She said as she turned on her left side to see the person come in.

The door opened and Dale appeared, "Good morning." He smiled as she peaked his head inside, not opening the door fully.

She waved and smiled, "Good morning." She pushed herself up and stretched.

"Just wanted to let you know that T-Dog was cooking breakfast. Better hurry if you wanna eat." He said.

She nodded, "Thanks, I'll be right there." He smiled again and closed the door to her room. She walked to her duffle bag and opened it as she reached for her last pair of clean skinny jeans and the navy blue t-shirt she wore the first time she met Rick. She slowly changed into the clothing and walked to the small bathroom to take a look at herself.

"Whoa." She mumbled when she remembered the bruise she had on her left cheek. "I forgot…" The bruise wasn't swollen but it was there.

_Ed. __His hand shut her up good, sending her flying to the ground. JJ immediately reached for the left side of her face, trying to feel as much of it as she could. She blinked a couple of times and was reminded of herself when, earlier in the day, she hit Daryl in the face._

That time at the quarry, "How could I have forgotten?" She asked herself as she remembered that day. She suddenly laughed at herself for forgetting something like that. She bent down and looked through the bathroom for a comb.

"Ha ha!" She said as she found one. She started brushing her hair again as she looked at herself in the mirror. She sighed as she continued to brush her hair as she walked back into the room and when she was done she put the comb in her bag.

She put her sneakers on then walked out of her room. She turned to her left and walked to the small kitchen. When she got there most of the group had sat down at the table and most of them were also hung-over. She walked up to them and as soon as she sat down T-Dog had a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her.

"Thank you." She said as he nodded. She took her fork and started eating. She could hear Glenn grunting and telling the group to never let him drink again. She couldn't help but laugh. From the corner of her eyes she noticed Shane come in.

"Hey."

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked as Shane walked to get himself a cup of coffee.

"Worse." He said as he turned around at the same time T-Dog walked by.

"What the hell happened to your neck?" He asked as Shane reached for it then shook his head.

"I must've done it in my sleep." He shrugged off quickly as he went and sat down.

Rick looked at him, "Never seen you do that before."

Shane eyed him, "Me neither. Not like me at all." He then shifted his gaze to Lori as she ignored him. A weird silence fell at the table as Jenner walked in.

"Morning." The table said their greetings to him as the doc immediately went to get a cup of coffee. She watched as Dale slowly leaned forward.

"Hey doc, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-"

"But you will anyways." Jenner interrupted with a very slight smile on his lips.

Andrea turned around to look at Jenner, "We didn't come here for there eggs."

Jenner looked at the group and seeing as most were looking at him he sighed and let his head fall down before starting to walk away.

"Once you're all done with breakfast, come and meet me in the big room." He walked away from the group and disappeared in an hallway leading to the big room. Everyone was either looking at each other or looking at the hallway where Jenner had just gone. Knowing that Jenner would answer their questions, the group suddenly hurried through breakfast to go and meet him in the big room.

As they entered the big room, they noticed Jenner was standing in front of a work station and staring at the screen. Hearing the steps of the group, Jenner turned around and waited for all of them to be closer to him. He looked at everyone then turned around the big screen.

"Give me a playback of TS-19." He called out to Vi.

"Playback of TS-19."

While waiting for the image to appear, Jenner turned around and said, "Few people ever got the chance to see this." Suddenly the image of a virtual brain appeared. It wasn't just a brain. It was a person lying on a table and the image was cut mid-torso.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked as Jenner turned to look at him, a sad smile appearing on his face.

"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end…Vi, take us in for EIV." He asked.

"Enhanced Internal View." The image suddenly changed and it zoomed inside the brain where they had a clearer view. The brain was flickering with different lights at different speeds. JJ walked closer to the screen and passed Daryl while doing so. Her eyes were wide.

_That's what he showed me yesterday…_JJ thought as she held a hand to her mouth, watching the replay she had previously seen the day before.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked.

Jenner sighed and looked at Shane, "It's a person's life. Experiences, memories…it's everything. Somewhere in that organic wiring, in all those ripples of light…is you. The thing that makes you unique and human."

Daryl walked closer to the screen, "You don't make sense, ever?"

Jenner sighed then caught JJ's gaze as she opened her mouth, "They're synapses…" She whispered. He pointed at her.

"Yes, yes…those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or what they think from the moment of birth…to the moment of death." He became silent as he looked at JJ again, the latter biting down on her lip as he continued his speech.

"_What would happen if a person, let's say, was already sick…?" JJ asked as they walked down an unknown hallway. _

_He furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean, already sick?" _

"_Such as an illness. With no treatment-"_

"_With no treatment the person would die-"_

"_No, no, I know that but let's say that what you said is true. If a person was already struck with a deadly illness and without the possibility of any treatment…would that change anything to the chances of survival of said person?" She asked as they stopped in front of a door. _

"_An already deadly illness fighting another one? Is that what you mean?" He asked as she nodded. _

"_Yes." She sighed as he brought a hand to his lips. _

_He sighed, "You just asked one hell of a good question…" he opened the door and let her enter first as he followed closely behind and closed it. "I'd say it'd be a possibility, and quite remarkable, for one to overpower the other but I'd have to do some tests to be sure about anything." _

"_So you think it is possible for one to overpower the other?" She asked as he gestured for her to lie down._

"_I don't know, but," He paused, "even if that was possible…I believe that either way the person would die."_

"Everything you ever were or ever will be…gone." JJ was brought back to reality and as she looked back at the screen she noticed it had changed. The brain had become black.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia's little voice asked as her mother brought her closer.

"Yes."

Jenner turned back to the screen, "Scan to second event."

"Scanning to second event." Vi responded as the screen changed again.

"The time of resurrection varies; we've heard of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we've heard was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours…one minute…and seven seconds." Jenner said as everyone glued their eyes to screen to watch as some red flickering lights were seen in the brain stem. She heard Rick approach as he stared at the screen, a pure confused look on his face.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked.

Jenner turned, again, to look at her, "No, just the brain stem. It gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Rick asked and Jenner simply pointed to the screen.

"You tell me."

"They're dead…" JJ said as she slowly sat down. Everyone looked at her as she pointed at the screen just like Jenner had done. "It's not actually restarting the brain is it…? It allows the brain to send a message to the body for it to move but there's no emotion, no memories, no sense of right or wrong, no logic…nothing. The only function it has is to get up and move. To hunt to survive…" She stopped.

Jenner nodded, "The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part- that doesn't come back. The you part…just a shell driven by a mindless instinct…" he looked at JJ, "instinct to survive."

Everyone looked back at the screen and a flash was seen as a part of the head was shattered.

"What was that?" Carol asked.

Andrea approached, "He shot his patient in the head…didn't you?"

Jenner looked down and told Vi to shut power to the main screen and work stations as he took a few steps to his left. Andrea was still close behind, "You have no idea what it is, do you?" She asked almost accusingly.

Jenner inhaled, "It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal-"

Jacqui interrupted him, "Or the wrath of God?"

"There is that." Jenner said as he nodded.

Rick stepped forward and got closer to Jenner as he pointed to the now black screen, "You don't know? How can you not know!?"

Jenner simply shrugged, "Everything shut down. All communications, directives…all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month…"

"So…it's not just here…it's everywhere? That's what you're really sayin'?" Andrea asked and everyone watched Jenner, waiting for an answer…answer that never came. JJ heard Daryl scoff and bring his hands to his face, rubbing it.

"I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk…again."

Amidst the sudden silence, Dale's steps were heard, "Dr. Jenner…I know this has been taxing for you and I'd hate to ask one more question but…that clock, it's counting down…what happens at zero?"

Jenner sighed and looked at Dale, "The basement generators…they run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick hesitantly asked as Jenner simply ignored him. Looking up at the ceiling, Rick asked, "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur."

* * *

_Wide contamination will occur? What the hell did that mean?_

JJ was pacing back and forth. She had been pacing for the last ten to twenty minutes after coming back into her room. She didn't understand what was going on. Was that the bad feeling she had? The feeling of everything being too perfect to be true? Rick had told everyone to go back to their rooms and he brought Shane, Glenn and T-Dog with him to the generator room to check things out. She started fanning herself with her hand and looked up. She climbed up on the couch and lifted her hand near the vent. She furrowed her eyebrows and stood on the tip of her feet as she tried feeling the air but nothing.

"No air conditioning…"

The lights suddenly started to flicker until everything went black. She huffed and opened the door of her room. And she wasn't alone to do so. By the time JJ fully stepped out of her room, most of the group was at the end of the hallway, following Jenner. After closing her door she ran to catch up to them as they eventually met back in the big room. Turning her head to the left she saw Rick walking to Jenner.

"Jenner, what's happening?"

"The system is dropping all nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second…that started as we approached the half hour mark," he paused and looked at the clock, "Right on schedule."

Glances of confusion were thrown at Jenner as he took a swing of whiskey, bottle he had acquired somehow, before stopping and turning around. He handed the bottle to Daryl and looked at the group before fixing his eyes onto Andrea.

"It was the French."

"What?"

Jenner sighed, "They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs until the end…they thought they were close to a solution."

JJ walked up to him, "So what happened?"

"Same thing that's happening here. No power grid…ran out of juice." He stopped then turned around, "The world runs on fossil fuel, I mean…how stupid is that?"

Shane groaned and walked up to Jenner, "Let me tell you-"

"To hell with it Shane!" Rick yelled as he turned to Lori, "Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff, we're getting outta here now!" Nodding quickly, everyone started running towards the exit to head back to their rooms but a loud alarm noise and red flickering lights stopped them.

"Thirty minutes to decontamination." Vi spoke.

"Jenner, what's going on?" JJ asked as she followed him to a keypad. She saw him punch in a few numbers and he slid a card. She heard a noise and turned to see the door had closed. She turned back to Jenner and grabbed him by the shoulder, "Did you just lock us in?" She whispered angrily to him.

"Did you lock us in? He just locked us in!" She heard Glenn yell, panicked. She released her grip on him and then heard Daryl yell.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelled through his clenched teeth as he approached Jenner, ready to pounce on him but Shane was quick and grabbed him before he could do anything dangerous but still, Daryl was able to grab Jenner and bring him to the floor along with Shane and himself. T-Dog and JJ ran to help Shane restrain Daryl. Both T-Dog and Shane were holding Daryl back as JJ tried prying Daryl's hands away from Jenner's lab coat. After a minute of struggle, Jenner was able to get back up on his feet.

"Open the door!" She yelled at Jenner.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. Emergency exits are sealed." He said.

Rick approached Jenner, "Open them, damn it!"

"That's not something I control…the computers do. I told you didn't I? Once that front door is closed, it stays closed." Jenner looked at the group, "It's better this way."

"What happens in twenty eight minutes?" Rick asked. Jenner simply ignored Rick's question. The latter walked up to him, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him, "What happens in twenty eight minutes!?"

"Tell him!" Daryl yelled as he made another move towards Jenner but JJ and T-Dog both stopped him.

"Do you know what this place is? We protected the public from very, nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox…Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff that you don't want getting out, ever!" Everyone was quiet after Jenner's outburst and all they could do was look at him. He walked to a chair and sat in it. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure. In a terrorist attack, for example, HIT's are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out…"

Rick's eyebrows furrowed, "HIT's?" He asked as walked to Jenner.

With his head down, Jenner said, "Vi, define."

"HIT's: high impulsive fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structure is desired_."_

"It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief…regret. Everything."

"_I'm sorry if this wasn't what you expected." Jenner said as they made their way back to the big room._

"_Oh, it was." She said as she looked at him. "Thank you."_

"_Why thank me? I've technically confirmed and signed your death certificate." He said as he looked at her, a sad look on his face._

"_Better you than those things out there." She said._

_He sighed, "How can you be so calm?"_

_She stopped once they reached the big room, "I always believed that death isn't scary. It doesn't scare me at all…but," She paused, "the time that I have between now and death is what scares me. Because I've got no idea how much time I have left."_

"_I've never thought about it that way…" He told her as she calmly nodded._

"_Thank you again." Was all she said as she squeezed his shoulder before turning back and walking down the hallway leading to her room._

JJ heard sobbing as she came back to reality, holding her head in one hand as a horrible headache appeared. She saw Carol holding Sophia while crying.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!" Carol cried.

"No one does." JJ added as Jenner turned to look at her with a look she knew meant 'even after what you've learned?' She held his gaze for a few seconds before turning her head away.

He turned back to Carol, "Wouldn't it be kinder? More compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?"

"That isn't your decision-" The sound of a gun cocking stopped her mid-sentence and made her turn her head as she saw Shane running up the stairs to where they were, shotgun in hand.

Rick ran to him, "Shane, no!"

"Out of my way, Rick, you stay out of my way!" Shane yelled, the barrel of the gun in Jenner's face. "Open that door or I'm gonna blow your brains out, do you hear me!?"

JJ watched Shane's finger on the trigger. It was shaking, dying to just pull it and get it over with but Rick tried calming him. Shane suddenly started screaming as he pressed the barrel in Jenner's face then pulled it away as he turned around. JJ immediately got out of his way as he started shooting at some of the work stations. Rick ran to Shane, grabbing the shotgun as he yanked it from his hands and hitting Shane with it, sending Shane to the ground, in complete shock.

"Are you done now?! Are you!?" Rick asked as Shane simply stared at his friend, anger still in his eyes. Rick handed the gun over to T-Dog and turned to Jenner.

"I think you're lying." Rick said as Jenner furrowed his eyebrows. "You're lying…about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter." Jenner answered.

Rick got closer, "It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to."

"Then why?" JJ asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why?"

Jenner got up, "I made a promise," He paused and then pointed to the screen where the vigil had been shown, "to her. My wife."

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asked.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could…how could I say no? She was dying…it should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world…hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just…Edwin Jenner." He paused. "She could've done something about this. Not me."

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's—that's all we want—a choice, a chance." Rick said.

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori added.

Jenner looked down and started shaking his head before letting a sigh escape his lips, "I told you, everything topside is locked down. I can't open those." He walked to the work station he had gone to before when he had locked the big room. He punched in a few numbers again then the door opened.

"Come on!" Daryl yelled. JJ watched as everyone started running towards the exit but she was lagging behind as she watched Rick and Jenner exchange a few words before bringing Rick closer to him, whispering something in his ear that made his eyes widened and shake from fear.

"HEY! We've got four minutes left! Come on!" Glenn yelled as she watched Rick being dragged away by Lori. Jenner looked at her.

"Why try? Why try with that you know?" He asked her as she slowly walked backwards.

She shook her head, "I don't know…" She simply nodded to him as she started running towards the exit noticing Andrea and Jacqui still there. They both simply shook their heads 'no' and JJ, eyes filled with tears, simply nodded again as she quickly ran out.

"Come on, JJ! Hurry!" Rick yelled.

"Go up! I'm gonna get my stuff!" She yelled back.

"I got your stuff." T-Dog yelled as he tossed her bags to her. She nodded a 'thank you' his way before they all ran.

When they made it topside she could see everyone attempting to open the doors. She saw T-Dog taking a chair and throwing it at the glass.

"T-Dog! Move!" Shane yelled, shotgun in hand and he shot, barely making scratches on the glass.

"The glass won't break." Sophia cried. Carol started searching something in her bag.

"Rick, I might have something that can help."

Pacing around, Shane responded, "Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Carol stopped in front of Rick and continued to search.

"On your first morning to camp when I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket." She finally took her hand out and there was a grenade, moving slightly around Carol's hand. He took and started walking closer to the glass.

"Get down!" He yelled and as he pulled the pin, running towards them.

A few seconds later they heard the glass shatter. JJ had both of her hands covering her ears. The explosion had an undesired effect on her ears seeing as it made them ring for a while. She noticed everyone getting up and running out. She grabbed her bags and did the same, all the while trying to not mind the ringing in her ears.

The explosion had attracted walkers all around the CDC and as the group made their way to their cars, they killed a few of them. Luckily the guys in the front had made a clear path for the rest of the group to pass through as they finally reached the cars. JJ quickly ran to the closest car and entered it. It was the RV. She was joined by some of the others before closing the door. She watched the CDC from inside the RV and waited…waited for it to be gone. It would be soon, she supposed as she stared at it intensely. But what she saw was all too surprising. Dale and Andrea were coming out of the building in a very slow pace but they were there. _I can't even remember Dale staying behind…_She thought as she turned to Glenn.

"Look!" She pointed towards the building, "It's Andrea and Dale."

Glenn ran to the door of the RV and started yelling, "Dale! Andrea! Come on! Hurry!"

Both of them ran but couldn't get to the cars. Luckily they hid behind a made up fence, made of bags of sand, and the moment they were down, the building went up in flames. The ground shook and everything around the building, nearly everything, was gone up in flames. She felt the RV shake and it stopped, seconds after the explosion and just like that, it was over. The CDC was gone, Jenner was gone, Jacqui was gone…that feeling of hope they had when they actually thought this would be a safe place, gone.

Glenn opened the door of the RV, letting Dale and Andrea get in. It wasn't long before they heard the engine roaring and felt the RV moving. They did a U-turn and one by one, they left. They were silent and did not bother saying a word because they all knew what would be said. Accusations would have been thrown around, blame would have been thrown around, questions about 'what next' were going to be asked, doubt about the survival of the group at this rate was going to be made obvious…

So they kept silent. The questions, anger, sadness and all of that was kept pilled up in their minds instead of being voice. It was better that way. After all, this was a close call and not one caused by walkers.

It felt as if nothing was left for them. No chance. No hope. Nothing at all.

Except, maybe, death.

* * *

**So there it was, Chapter six. Hope you guys liked it. So, I'm playing a bit with you guys because I didn't put in the favor she asks Jenner but it'll be brought back up eventually in a few chapters. It'll take quite some time, still, for JJ and Daryl to get ****closer. It'll be slow but I can guarantee that they will have more moments together coming in two chapter or three. And now, since I'm getting closer to the farm I'll have a lot more ideas because I've been writing bits about the farm for a while now so YEAH for this. ****  
**

**Still, I am not satisfied over this Chapter. Ugh, I'm being difficult with my writing, as I always am. A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO REVIEWED. I love you guys. Also to those who follow the story! Everyone, I love you!**

**OH, and by the way, the profile picture/poster is for this story, if you wanna have an idea of what she looks like. I know she looks young but she had a baby face, that's all. Haha. And yeah, it was done by me. **

**Hope you like & liked the chapter. Reviews & constructive reviews are well appreciated. No bashing, don't like...well, don't read. **

**ENJOY :D xx**


	8. Chapter 7

**Here it goes! Shorter chapter, I know, but it's a filler. **

* * *

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 7**

"A Matter of Adjustment"

When the warmness of the sun hit her skin JJ was reminded that it was only late morning the next day. They had been driving in complete silence since the CDC and hadn't made a stop in hours but they soon stopped to stretch their legs and some of the guys were siphoning to get more gas before the next few hours of driving. She walked around for a bit while waiting for the siphoning to be done until she heard Rick walk behind her. She knew because of the clinking of his boots on the ground.

"Are you alright?" He asked, now standing next to her.

She nodded, "Yeah, I'll be. What about you?" She asked. He gave her a small nod and she remembered how she had barely talked to him since their arrival at camp. With him going back for Merle, the attack on the camp, leaving the camp, finding the CDC and escaping the CDC, there definitely had not been any time for chit-chat. And he wasn't about to start a chat now but he did care about the people and him coming to her, asking if she was alright was definitely a nice feeling. "What now?"

He sighed and looked at her, eyes squinting, "I don't know…maybe Fort Benning." He looked up.

She bit the inside of her cheek, "I hate to say it but what if it's just like the CDC…" He snapped his head down to look at her again, "…it would destroy everyone…"

"I know…I know…but what choices do we have left?" He told her as he shook his head from left to right, bringing a hand to his head as he clearly was conflicted over what to do.

She unwillingly shrugged, "I don't know, Rick, I wish I could help…" she said, voice shaking. "If you need anything and I mean anything, just ask me."

He smiled a bit and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it, "Thank you, thank you…" He said as he nodded at her and turned around, starting to walk towards the group but she saw him turn towards her again, "I actually need something…" He walked back to her.

"Yes?"

"The small store over there, could you and Glenn take a look into it? If you see a walker, just stop and come back." He told her as she nodded and walked to Glenn.

"Glenn." She called. He turned and looked at her, eyes obviously tired. "Rick wants us to go in that store over there and get as much stuff as we can."

He nodded, "Alright." He said as she waited for him to go and grab two bag. Once he came with the bags, they started walking as he handed one to her. "You good?"

She turned to him and nodded, repeating the words she told Rick, "I'll be. And you?"

"Yeah, yeah…" He said as they approached the entrance. One of the windows on the door was noticeably broken as JJ bent down to the level of the broken window and looked inside as best as she could. "How does it look?"

"It looks clear." She said as he nodded to her. With her hand she tried turning the knob but it wouldn't open.

"Who breaks into a store and then takes the time to lock the door back?" Glenn commented as she turned his head towards him.

"Someone who tried to stop something from getting out?" Glenn's face paled at the idea of walkers stuck in that small store, any noise they would make would attract their attention. "Do ya still wanna get in and check it out?" She then asked him.

He took a few seconds to think then nodded, "Yeah, yeah. Let's do it."

She swallowed then gave a small nod as she let her hand go through the small whole in the window. Patting around, trying to feel the knob or the lock, she eventually found a lock and twisted it, unlocking the door. Taking her hand out of there, she reached for the outer knob again then opened the door slowly as it creaked, making Glenn and her wince at the noise. They looked at each other then waited for a few seconds before stepping inside the store. First thing they noticed was how there was a big shelf down on the floor and its content sprawled all around it, most of its content surely still under it. Glenn looked at her and motioned he would go to the left of the store, where the shelves were still partially intact. She nodded and went to the right, going around the fallen shelf and making her way to the back of the store. Squinting as she made her way there, she cursed at how dark it was near the back. There wasn't much left aside from a few batteries, duck tape, a flashlight and some other stuff JJ couldn't quite figure out with the darkness. She picked some of it up. She figured Glenn was the one with all the food.

"Hey!" She whispered-yelled in his direction. "Glenn, you find anything?"

"Some canned food, snacks, bottles of water…not much though, only three and some gum." She laughed and she heard him chuckle.

"I'm coming your way soon, nothing on this side…most of it is under the shelf and I really don't want to try lifting it up without knowing what could be hiding under it." She said.

"And what about what's around the shelf?" He asked, still whispering loud enough for her to hear.

"Most of the food there is way past its expiration date." She stated as she tried looking under the shelf as best as she could. "I can't tell, it's way too dark."

"Do you have a flashlight?"

"I don't-" she stopped, "wait, I do." She looked through the stuff she had taken and took out the flashlight. She unwrapped it and then turned it on, no batteries. She reached inside the bag once again to take out two batteries for a pack she had taken a few minutes ago. Putting in the batteries, the light came on and a content sigh escaped her lips as she bent down on her knees. She pointed the flashlight towards the small space between the shelf and the floor as she squinted to see. It wasn't long before she noticed there was someone under there. She pointed the flashlight towards the body as best as she could, hoping she wouldn't attract the attention on herself. The body had been rotting for a while and the person had probably died a while ago. She shook her head then moved, getting back up on her feet. She stared at the shelf then walked to Glenn, meeting with him pretty quickly.

"I checked under the shelf." She stated as she held her hand out to his bag, he gave it to her as she held it open for him to put more things inside.

"And?" He asked as he shoved more snacks inside.

"There was someone under it, crushed I'm guessing." Glenn stopped for a second then looked at her.

"Walker?"

She shook her head, "Probably. I wouldn't try and pick that shelf up, still. Here," she handed him her bag, "take mine, yours is almost full."

He took her bag and they continued to walk around as they looked for more food or anything useful they could take, "Did it move?"

"It didn't. I tried not to flash the light too directly in its direction." She told him. "I hope it's the only one."

"It should be. The store isn't all that big." She looked at him as he fully turned his body towards her.

"I really don't want to find out." She said as he nodded and pointed towards the bags.

"It's enough, I think." She nodded. "You wanna go back?"

She sighed, "We probably should anyways."

They quickly made their way out and she stopped when Glenn stayed in front of the door for a few seconds. She watched him as he reached inside and locked the door. She smiled and he noticed her smile as he turned to look at her.

"We never know." He said.

She nodded, "You're right. We never know."

Rick was quick to notice them coming back and he met with them in the middle of their walk, "How did it go?"

Glenn spoke first, "Got some canned food and snacks. JJ got some stuff too. I took as much as we could fit in the bags." He nodded and Glenn took the bag JJ held as he walked towards the RV, leaving her with Rick.

"One walker stuck under a shelf but it was quiet." She said as he sighed. "Are we about to leave?"

He squinted as he looked up at the sun, "Yeah. We were waiting on you guys."

"Alright." She paused then looked at him, "So, Fort Benning?"

"Yeah…" She furrowed her eyebrows at him and he felt her gaze on him as he looked back at her, noticing her look. She knew he had a hard time with that decision, knowing very well it could end up being just like the CDC. He opened his mouth, his eyebrows now furrowed, "Back there, at the CDC, I went to speak with Jenner and waited for him to come back…"

She shoved her hands in her pockets as she looked at him, "Okay…"

"He said he was with you. What were you doing with him?" He asked. The look on his face held confusion. Had he been wondering since they left? What should she tell him? The truth. _No, he'll think I'm weak or that I'll slow them down eventually. _

"I asked him if he had any aspirin. I've been having horrible migraines in the past few weeks. I caught him in the hallways so we walked and talked." She lied. Well, it wasn't a total lie. She did have the migraines just not the medication to help with them. He looked at her then nodded. He knew she was lying, it was clear but he didn't say anything. He kept quiet and put a hand on her shoulder as he gave it a small squeeze. The squeeze clearly was to be taken by anyone else watching as a 'Okay, it's good' but she knew it meant 'you will tell me one day' and she sighed, relieved he didn't push for an answer.

She followed after him when he made his way back to the group, signalling for them to get back in their vehicles because they were leaving. She walked to the camper and walked inside it, finding Dale already in the driver's seat all ready to go.

"Can I sit here?" She asked as she pointed towards the passenger's seat. Dale looked up then smiled as he patted the seat.

"Go ahead, of course." She smile and sat. "I take it everything went fine in that store."

She smiled, "Yeah, in and out." She looked at Dale, "How are you doing, Dale?"

He nodded and looked outside. She followed his gaze as it fell on Andrea, "I'm good. I just don't know how she is."

JJ bit her lip, "It's hard on all of us but I do think she'll thank you later." He looked at her, "Don't ask me when later but later." He chuckled.

"You're good with people." He told her as she scoffed but laughed. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her, confused.

"I was. It was my job to see if cops or soldiers were still fit for duty. I wouldn't listen to only the words but body language." She explained as he nodded.

"So you helped soldiers when they'd get back?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but I also went with them once. I didn't stay long but I felt it was important to know how life was for them over there to understand a bit more their point of view." She paused. "I was good with people but today, with this, everything changed. It changes people in different ways. Don't think I'm any good any more." She quietly chuckled.

"Don't say that, I'm sure you'll adjust." He said as she smiled.

"I guess I'll have to." The door opened the moment she finished her sentence, Glenn walking in.

"Rick said we're going now." Dale nodded and waited for everyone to get inside the RV. She heard the roaring sound of a motorcycle as she looked outside.

"He's taking his motorcycle?" She asked Dale.

"Yeah." She chuckled and looked at Dale.

"Won't the noise-"

Dale smiled, "Don't ask me, ask him." She turned and looked at Daryl then back at Dale.

"I don't think he likes me." She stated as she leaned into her seat. Dale looked at her then at Daryl, just like she had done seconds before.

"Like I said, you're good with people."

She scoffed and laughed, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You're the one that knows how to read people, you'll figure it out." He said with a small smile as he started following Daryl as they drove out onto the highway. She just smirked then looked out the window, Dale's words still on her mind.

In the next hour and a half JJ would look out the window and as a last resort before letting herself fall asleep she decided to figure out what Dale meant. It wasn't too long before she figured it out and a small smile was found tugging at her lips as she glanced at Dale. _That old man I swear. _He, more than Rick because of the age, reminded her of her father with his wit and calmness. She watched as he started frowning and she looked back at the road in front of them and frowned too. She pursed her lips and swore quietly. There were cars everywhere. They all had been stuck in traffic when the virus hit them hard and the graveyard was going on, from what it looked like, for miles. A discouraged sigh escaped everyone's lips in the camper. She heard Dale sigh and watched as he opened his mouth.

"This is not good."

* * *

**So there it was! Chapter Seven of Scratching & Clawing. I really do not like this chapter because, ugh, filler. I'm not good with those but I will try harder to make it fun next time. I'll even, maybe, fix it. And it was much shorter. I seriously cannot wait to get to mid season two because that's where it really is gonna start to pick up. I just fell off my Walking Dead fix and I stared at this chapter for a while but here it is. **

**I want to know something from you guys: is there anything you'd like to know about JJ(aside from her favor)? Is there anything you'd like to see in the future? **

**So yeah, and THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed. I love you! I keep writing because of you :D and because I like it :P **

**Reviews are loved, constructive reviews are well appreciated! No bashing, if you don't like then don't read. As simple as that. **

**I hope you enjoyed :D**


	9. Chapter 8

**Ugh! I had writer's block for a while and now it's here. I had planned for it to be posted on Christmas Day but I was away with family. So last chapter of 2012 today. After this chapter, I believe you'll get more Daryl & JJ action. **

**I'll be answering some questions down below. So read if ya want some answers haha :P**

* * *

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 8**

"Blame"

The camper stopped moving and all JJ could concentrate on was the noise coming from the motorcycle that was circling around to stop near the camper's window. Her ears concentrated on the noise while her eyes were glued to the graveyard of cars, and people most definitely, in front of them. Dale leaned out of the window asking Daryl if he saw a way through. The latter looked back and nodded as turned around again. The camper started moving again and they maneuverer through the graveyard. JJ's eyes scanned through the cars and the only thing noticeable was the dead, decaying bodies still, most of them, in their seats.

A loud noise was heard and white smoke came from the front of the camper as Dale cursed silently under his breath, making the camper come to a stop. They all went out, following after Dale to look at what went wrong. The best, and obvious, guess was the radiator hose. By the time she got out, everyone had exited their vehicles and were now around the camper.

Shane sighed, "Can't find a radiator hose here…" He said as he looked around them.

"A whole bunch of stuff we can find here…" They turned to Daryl, whom had reached into the trunk of a car nearby as he looked around.

T-Dog walked forward with a gas can in hand, "Siphon more gas from these cars for a start…"

They all started to slowly move to start looking, "This is a graveyard," and they all stopped and turned to look at Lori, "I don't know how I feel about this…"

Silence fell upon the group and as if nothing was said Shane told everyone to just start looking around and to gather as much stuff as they could. JJ quietly walked through the graveyard of cars and would from time to time peek inside a car, looking for supplies. It took her little time to find an empty bag and to fill it to its maximum. She quickly turned around and nodded to herself when she saw she was still in safe distance from the camper and the group.

She looked through her bag as she approached another car, a pickup truck this time around, "Last one." She whispered to herself as she climbed into the back to look through the few boxes there were. She opened and went through boxes, grabbing what could be necessary: snacks, clothing, batteries…

It was then she noticed the eerie silence. She stopped everything she was doing and she listened to her surroundings. No sound, nothing coming from the group at least, which worried her. She put the latest pack of batteries inside the bag and climbed of the back of the truck. She struggled to see it closed but eventually got it.

A mere second after she felt a hand cover her mouth as it quieted her shriek and the person pulled her down to her knees. She reached for the person's hand with her own as she tried turning around but the person held her in place, "Stay quiet or ya gonna get yourself killed." _Daryl. _She calmed down. "Ya gonna stay quiet?" She nodded and his hand left her mouth as she turned around, a questioning look on her face.

"Hide under the car." She furrowed her eyebrows, still not understanding. "Now!" He whispered harshly and that's when she understood the urgency.

"Walkers." She whispered back before he pushed her down further, almost pushing her entirely on the ground. She quietly slid under the truck and met his gaze one last time as he nodded to her. She slid further under the car and made sure to not be seen. She reached for her gun in the back of her jeans and was met with emptiness as she mentally cursed herself for leaving it.

It didn't take long before she heard steps coming her way and saw feet stumble past her as well as the vehicles surrounding her. She quickly brought a hand over her mouth to quiet herself as she steadied her breathing. She found herself closing her eyes as a soft shaky breath escaped her lips. She kept her eyes closed and almost as soon as the herd had started walking by, they were gone. She waited for a minute and heard screaming coming from where the camper, and the group, was. She hurriedly came out from under the pickup truck and walked around the truck to see young Sophia run off in the woods, two walkers following her as well as Rick following closely behind her. She reached for the bag of supplies and ran for the group, meeting them a few seconds afterwards. The first person she met with was Dale.

"We were wondering where you were." He told her as she reassured him she was fine. "I thought one of them got to ya."

She shook her head, "I'm not ready to die just yet." She said as she scanned her surroundings.

"You must have a guardian angel looking after you then." He joked and she found herself smiling back as she squinted her eyes. She heard grunting and saw Daryl coming back with an injured T-Dog. She took a quick look at Daryl, the latter giving her a quick glance before taking a rag out to stop the bleeding.

She looked at Daryl then back to Dale again, "I guess I do." She said as she walked to T-Dog. "What happened?"

He grunted then looked at her, "Ain't a bite. Cut myself." She winced, imagining the pain he was going through.

"Let's go and sit you down." She said as Daryl helped T-Dog closer to the camper. He set him down and she bent down to eye level as she took his injured arm. "Can I?" He just nodded and she slowly lifted the rag up, taking a look at the injury.

"So?" T-Dog asked. JJ opened her mouth but crying stopped her dead in her thoughts. She turned her head and saw Carol being held by Lori. JJ looked down at the ground then covered his cut back up.

"I'll check if we have any bandages." She told him as he nodded. She stood up and sighed as she looked over Carol. She sighed sadly as she walked over to Dale. "Dale, T-Dog got a pretty bad cut…do you happen to have anything-" he stopped her as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll take care of it." He said. She smiled as he went to look after T-Dog.

"You ok?" She turned around and found herself facing Shane.

She nodded rapidly, "Yeah, yeah…what the hell was that though?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. Where's Rick?" She pointed in direction of the woods and mouthed 'Sophia' as Shane nodded and walked over to Lori and Carol. She turned her head and saw Glenn coming her way.

"You good?" She asked him.

"Yeah. You?" He sighed, still obviously shaken by what had just occurred.

"I guess." She sadly smiled at him. "Sophia ran into the woods, Rick went after her." His eyes widened.

"Walkers?"

"Probably. Why else? I didn't see walkers but there wouldn't be any other reason for her to run off like that." She said as she looked out. "She must be so scared."

"She'll be okay." Glenn said as he stood next to her.

"I hope so."

* * *

Rick had quickly come back and asked for Shane, Daryl and Glenn to come along with him to go and find Sophia. That left the others at the highway trying to either comfort Carol, take care of T-Dog or keep themselves busy. It hadn't taken long before only Shane and Glenn came back to the highway saying Rick and Daryl would continue. It didn't take a genius to understand that once they came back Shane tried keeping everyone busy around by making them search cars or taking turns to check on T-Dog. The sky was getting darker and everyone started throwing glances at Carol, seeing as Rick and Daryl hadn't returned yet.

"I hope they'll be back with Sophia soon." Glenn said as he leaned against a car. JJ squinted her eyes and looked at him. She bit her lower lip and sighed. "What?"

"I'm worried, that's all." She told him.

"Oh god, they're back!" She heard Carol call as they all approached the side of the highway. Rick was getting closer, Daryl in tow. The both of them were sweaty and covered in blood. It's the blood that suddenly got her worried and she hoped Carol wouldn't notice. She approached Rick, looked at him and then did the same with Daryl noticing no Sophia in tow.

"You didn't find her?" She asked, breathing becoming unsteady and sobs coming up.

Rick slowly approached, "Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again tomorrow, first thing in the morning."

"You can't just leave my daughter out there on her own," she paused, "to spend the night alone in the woods!"

Daryl's tired voice made everyone look at him, "Lookin' in the dark's no good…we'd just be trippin' over ourselves. More people would get lost." That only caused Carol to grow even more worried and panicked.

"She's only twelve. She can't be out there on her own! You didn't find anything…?" She desperately asked. Lori was holding her shoulders, trying to comfort her. Rick approached Carol.

"I know this is hard, but I'm asking you not to panic, we know she was out there!" He exclaimed, hope clearly heard in his voice.

"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl stepped forward.

Rick followed, "And we have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this."

Her attention fell on the blood on their clothing, "Is…is that blood?" Carol started pacing and panting as she looked at their clothing. Rick took Carol delicately by the shoulders.

"We took down a walker, there was no sign it was anywhere near Sophia." He told her as she put her hand to her mouth and tried stopping her tears from falling.

"How can you know that?" Andrea asked.

Rick looked at Daryl and then back at Carol, unsure of how to say it. Daryl took a step forward and hesitated before saying, "We cut the sumbitch open. Made sure."

A sigh of relief escaped everyone's lips as they heard the answer. Lori sat her down on the railing on the side of the road and as quick as the relief had appeared, it was gone to be replaced by anger as she looked up at Rick, "How could you…just leave her out there to begin with!? How could you just leave her!?" JJ approached Carol and put a hand on her forearm, trying to comfort her but she pulled her arm away from Lori and JJ's touch.

"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off! It was our best chance!" Rick tried explaining.

Shane got closer, shaking his head, "It sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." He stood next to Rick, clearly defending his friend's decision.

"How is she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child…she's just a child…" Her eyes began to water and tears were threatening to fall as her hand found its way back to her mouth, "My little girl got left in the woods…" She got up on her feet and simply walked to camper, stepping away from everyone. Everyone was looking at Rick after that as he started shaking his head while biting his lip as he turned around and started walking away. And all they could do is walk away and wait until the next day.

* * *

JJ awoke slightly before the sun came up and stared at the ceiling of the RV for long minutes. How was Sophia? Was she alright? The poor girl probably hadn't slept at all during the night and she was probably starving. She remembered when Rick walked back to the group the day before after walking away. He was quiet and spoke quickly to Shane and Daryl before going to the top of the camper, keeping guard for most of the night. JJ had awoken some time during the night and had gotten up to see if it was still Rick up on the camper but as she walked out of the camper she noticed he was sitting in one of the cars, not sleeping but at least resting.

She quietly got up and exited the camper to stretch her legs a bit. She took a deep breath and exhaled before yawning, quickly covering her mouth with one of her hands. She scanned her surroundings and saw the light from where the sun would soon come up. She looked at it for a while then smiled. She turned her head and her gaze fell on the ladder leading to the roof of the camper as she approached it.

She climbed and as she reached, she called, "Dale, do y-" She stopped dead in her track when she noticed the person atop of the camper wasn't Dale.

"The old man went back in, didn't ya see him?" It was Daryl. That was something else she couldn't understand. Why was she always fidgety around the man? She swallowed and thought for a good ten seconds before answering.

"I actually didn't. Just assumed it was Dale." She told him as she placed a strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear.

He scoffed, "Ya need to stop assu-"

"Assuming things? Don't worry, I've been told." She said as she nodded to herself looking down at her hands, remembering a situation when she was younger that happened with her father. She looked back up and met his gaze, "Thanks again for saving my ass yesterday."

He shrugged as she continued, "I probably would have been dead if it weren't for you."

He looked down at his hands and brought one up to his lips as he chewed on his thumb, again, "Yah, well, I ain't savin' your ass again." She found herself smirking.

"Hey, we never know, maybe next time I'll be the one savin' your ass." He turned around and glared at her, noting that she was still smirking.

"Pfft, that'll be the day." He said as he heard her chuckle. He didn't look back but when he did a few seconds later she wasn't standing there anymore. Once he heard Dale's voice coming out of the camper, he grabbed his crossbow and climbed down the ladder to join the rest of the group as they all got ready to go and search for Sophia. They all had barely finished eating when Rick called all of them out to meet before going out in the woods. It didn't go unnoticed when Shane and Rick decided they wanted to talk to JJ as they slowly pulled her away from the group.

"What's going on?" She asked Shane.

"Rick tells me that you can handle a gun, yeah?" He asked her as she looked at Rick then back at Shane, nodding.

"Yeah. I do. Why?"

Shane sighed, "Do you want to carry a gun or one of the other weapons we have?"

"I don't know if it'll go over well with everybody…" She couldn't deny she though of Andrea as she spoke of this. She understood the worry Dale had with Andrea carrying a weapon especially after she wanted to let herself die along with Jenner and Jacqui at the CDC. She had heard the exchange between Dale and Andrea when he didn't want to give her gun back. And not everyone had had gun training and she sure wasn't an expert shooter.

"You talkin' about Andrea?" Shane looked over to the group. JJ nodded and he licked his lips before speaking, "If she ain't happy, well, it's too bad. She's gonna have to deal with it until she can shoot the damn thing."

"I usually wouldn't care but she is for sure going to give me crap if I carry a gun." She said and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Rick put a hand on her shoulder, "Just carry it as a precaution. I've seen you shoot…and you're good. We need sharp shooters in case something happens and the machetes aren't enough." Biting her lower lip JJ could simply nod, agreeing with Rick.

"Alright." They all exhaled and started walking back to the rest of the group. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Shane as he leaned in near her ear.

"Don't mind the crap." She nodded and walked inside the camper, getting her bag and taking out the handgun and small knife she had. She made sure her gun was loaded as she put it in the back, secured between her back skin and belt-looped pants. She walked outside and noticed a range of weapons laid out on the hood of a car. She closed the door and stood beside Shane.

"Everybody takes a weapon." Rick said as Andrea got closer and looked at all the weapons, clearly not happy with the choice.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" She asked.

"We've been over that." He paused as he looked up to look at her. "Daryl, JJ, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping of rounds every time a tree rustles." Andrea had thrown a look in JJ's direction once her name was mentioned but her gaze didn't stay long before she continued.

"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Shane scoffed only loud enough for her to hear.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us." He paused and looked at her sternly before putting a bag over his shoulder. "So you need to get over it." She pursed her lips, clearly unhappy with the final decision regarding the guns.

"The idea is to take the creek about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark." Daryl explained as he started moving, letting Rick talk.

"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." He finished as he turned around towards Dale, telling the latter to continue to try to repair the RV. As JJ finished to assemble her bags she heard from where she stood, a few meters away, Andrea getting angry at Dale. About him not respecting her choice, her not being his problem…

They had grown quiet as they argument went on and they tried not looking or staring at the both of them. JJ put her bag on her shoulder and got up only to meet Andrea's furious gaze as she walked by her. She was followed by Daryl who only glanced at JJ before walking into the woods.

"_Il y a des gens qui devrait apprendre à fermer leur gueule._" She said under her breath but as she looked up she met with Glenn's eyes.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Uhh, French?" He laughed before they started walking alongside each other.

"I know but…you speak it?" He asked her as she smiled.

"I was born in Montreal, most people there speak French. It's my mother tongue." She explained as he made a 'O' shape with his lips before continuing walking and following the others. A small smile appeared on her face before it disappeared, letting a serious expression appear as she concentrated on the task: finding Sophia.

* * *

They had been walking for quite some time and the day was only getting hotter as it went by. No stop to rest had been made since they left the highway and it didn't look like they were going to stop anytime soon. No words were exchanged since they left unless it was absolutely necessary to do so. JJ had started the search by being in the back of the line but ended up walking up to the front right behind Rick and Daryl.

She noticed Daryl's steps slowed down and he quietly turned to his left as they followed him and in sight, a few meters away, a tent was seen. Daryl pointed at the tent and Rick signalled everyone to bent down.

"She could be in there." Shane spoke standing behind Rick.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there." Daryl said as he took careful steps approaching the tent with both Shane and Rick following behind him. The latter looked back and signalled them to stay behind. The look of worry on Carol's face grew and all JJ could do to stop her from running towards the tent was to delicately take her arm in her hand telling Carol to stay.

Daryl held his crossbow, ready to shoot if anything was to pop out of nowhere. Once they were close enough he stopped both and took out his knife as he approached the tent by himself. Daryl looked around the tent, trying to figure out if someone or something was in there. After giving it a quick look he turned around to Rick and shrugged. She saw Rick turn to her and JJ told Carol to go. She quickly did, joining Rick and Shane, the rest of the group approaching but still staying at a safe distance. Daryl suddenly stood in stance with his knife still in hand at the door of the tent.

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there? Sophia it's Mommy. Sophia, we're all here, baby. It's Mommy." Carol called out. Rick, gun in hand, as well as Shane, walked beside the tent and they all watched as Daryl unzipped the tent door and opened it, only to start coughing before he entered by himself. JJ walked next to Carol and grabbed her arm again. "Daryl?"

When he didn't answer, JJ called out, "Daryl?"

He walked out, seconds after, "It ain't her."

"What's in there?" Andrea asked.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?" JJ looked back at Andrea with a quick glance before squeezing Carol's arm, giving a sad smile to her as they stayed quiet for no more than a second before church bells started ringing. They listened for a few seconds before Rick pointed into one direction and they all started to run towards the noise.

"What direction?" Shane asked once they stopped.

"It's hard to tell where the noise is coming from." JJ said as she looked around.

"I think that way. I'm pretty sure." Rick guessed.

Carol, hope present in her voice, said, "If we hear them, maybe Sophia does too."

"Someone's ringing those bells, maybe calling others." Glenn suggested.

Andrea passed him, "Or signalling that they found her."

Their pace quickened as Rick said, "She could be ringing them herself. Come on."

They all started running and eventually they arrived to a small cemetery and church.

"That can't be it. Got no steeple, no bells." Shane stated but Rick simply started running towards the small church. "Rick!" They started running again and as they arrived at the doors of the church they waited. JJ climbed the stairs and stood behind Daryl as they waited for Rick's signal. He looked at Daryl and nodded, they both pushed the doors open. She turned to Glenn and took his weapon, ready to go in as she noticed there were only three walkers. Before she could even move inside, Daryl turned towards her and grabbed the weapon out of her hand as he handed her his crossbow. She simply took it without saying a word as she watched Rick, Shane and Daryl walk in and kill the walkers inside in a matter of seconds. That's when it dawned on her that there was no Sophia.

"SOPHIA!" Rick screamed, looking around. Daryl walked up to the statue of Jesus and looked at it for a few seconds before saying something she couldn't hear.

"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Rick." Shane told his friend. "There's no steeple."

The bell started ringing immediately when Shane finished speaking. Daryl suddenly started running through the group to get outside, everyone else following behind. They walked to the side of the church and Glenn approached a box where he unplugged wires, making the ringing stop.

"A timer. It's on a timer." Daryl said as he walked away. As he passed JJ, she handed his crossbow back and he took it. He handed her Glenn's weapon. She thanked him and walked back to Glenn, handing him his weapon. She then simply walked to a tomb and sat on the grass leaning against the tomb, taking a quick rest. Not even resting for five minutes Shane came walking towards everyone.

"Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back. Okay, Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough." Shane said.

Daryl looked at Shane, unsure of the plan, "You're splitting us up. You sure?"

With a sigh, Shane continued, "Yeah, we'll catch up to you."

"I want to stay too." Carl said, surprising everyone. "I'm her friend."

Rick and Shane looked at each other, unsure of what to do but Lori was the one who made the decision, "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will."

"Uh, when did you start to grow up?" Lori said to her sun as she kissed the top of his head. JJ couldn't help but smile.

"Here, take this. Remember how to use it?" She saw Rick was handing his gun to Lori.

She shook her head, "I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed."

Daryl approached, gun in hand, "Here, got a spare. Take it." She took and all she heard was Andrea let out a frustrated sigh and a look of disgust was clearly seen on her face as she walked away, following the rest of the group. JJ shook her head as she did the same and waited for Lori to catch up. They smiled lightly at each other and they ventured into the woods for another long walk.

Not five minutes after they left, they already had stopped. Carol sat down on a fallen tree, "So this is it? That's the whole plan."

Daryl walked back to the small group saying, "I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups."

"Carrying knives and pointy sticks." Andrea started before looking at Lori. "I see you have a gun."

JJ scoffed, "Here we go."

"You got something to say?" Andrea spit back.

JJ held her hands in the air, "Nope. Go ahead and whine, ain't nothing new anyways and it ain't gonna change anything."

"You want the gun?" Lori said, clearly tired of Andrea's behaviour. "Here, take it. I'm sick of the looks you're giving me or JJ for that matter."

Andrea let out an exasperated sigh as Lori continued, "All of you." She paused and looked at Carol with a softer tone, "Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through. And I would do anything to stop it. But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him. And when Sophia ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second! I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way he did or made the hard decisions that he had to make or that anybody could have done it any differently."

After a long pause, she continued, "Anybody? Y'all look to him and then you blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you." She finished as she took a sip of her water. JJ saw Andrea approach Lori and she handed her the gun, Lori taking it.

"We should keep moving." Andrea finally said. Everyone slowly got up and started walking, quietly again.

As they kept walking in silence JJ couldn't help but notice that a headache was starting to bother her greatly. She tried ignoring it until the headache transformed into a migraine. She grunted because of the slight pain it caused. She found herself lucky to be standing at the back of the group for the simple reason that no one noticed the pain she was enduring. She quickly looked around and reached inside of her bag, looking for the small box of aspirin Jenner had given her the day before the explosion. She popped the bottle open and took two out. She closed the bottle and reached for her bottle of water as she put both pills in her mouth. She brought the bottle to her lips and took two big sips before closing it. She put her bottle back in her back and as she looked up she met Daryl's gaze. He looked down at her bag then back at her before turning his back to her. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but continued to walk.

The only sounds that were present were the ones coming from them walking and some birds chirping. They mostly kept quiet. But the only sound that seemed out of the ordinary was the sudden pop of a gunshot being sent into the air. The echo stayed for a few seconds before someone spoke.

"Let's get moving. There's nothing to worry about." Daryl tried reassuring but the worry plastered on Lori's face was obvious and sad to see. JJ walked to Lori.

"They'll meet up with us soon, I'm sure." JJ tried comforting Lori as she smiled at JJ before continuing to walk, the gun shot still obviously worrying her. JJ stayed behind for a few seconds as she looked at the direction from where the shot had came from.

"Hey…" She turned and saw Daryl. She was surprised to see him there and he simply motioned with his head towards the still continuing walking group. She nodded and walked, Daryl following closely behind.

And for the first time in years, JJ found herself praying as she looked up at the sky.

"Let them be safe, all three of them."

* * *

**Chapter eight! Woohoo! So I had planned to put this out by Christmas but that obviously didn't work out so this is the last chapter of 2012 and the next chapter will be in the first week of 2013! Hope you all had an amazing Christmas and that the holidays were amazing :D **

**I also want to thank everyone who reviewed, followed or favorited this story. I LOVE YOU ALL :D I want to ask if there's anything you'd like to know about JJ that I could elaborate into the character development. Any questions you guys have, just ask away :) **

**FanFicGirl10's question was: Did JJ have a boyfriend before the outbreak? Answer is YES, she did. It'll be mentioned in the next few chapters actually :)**

**Sam0728's question: Is it a brain tumor? Answer is...you'll have to read to discover :P But it is a great possibility. **

**If you guys have any questions, you can just PM me or just write them in the reviews and I'll answer them just like I did now. ALL of my story is planned so any question you have, you may ask but I may answer them by PM. **

**I want to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR! And have fun! Hahaha :P**

**R&R. Constructive reviews! NO BASHING, you don't like well just don't read, as simple as that.**

**SORRY FOR ANY MISTAKES, I'LL CORRECT TIME TOMORROW. I'M VERY EXHAUSTED BUT I JUST HAD TO POST THIS. **


	10. Chapter 9

**Well, HAPPY NEW YEAR my friends :) **

**I wish for all of you the best for this upcoming year & this is my gift, a brand new chapter. My longest to date. **

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 9**

"Some Prayers Go Unanswered"

Nearly thirty minutes had gone by since the sound of a gunshot had been heard and it still, obviously, bothered everyone, particularly Lori. She had told JJ as they walked that she had a bad feeling about all of it. All JJ could do was reassure Lori as best as she could. The mother and wife simply smiled and continued walking until she met with Carol. JJ held her head for a second before continuing the walk, reaching for another aspirin in her bag. She opened, again, her bottle and drank as she swallowed the water and the small pill. She realized everyone stopped walking as she turned her head around and noticed Daryl was now a few steps behind her. She walked back and stood next to him as Andrea took a step towards Lori.

"You're still worrying about it?" Andrea asked her.

"It was a gunshot." Lori said looking into the woods.

"We all heard it." Daryl stated as Lori turned her head around, looking directly at him.

"Why one? Why just one gunshot?" She asked, showing small signs of panic.

Daryl looked back at her, "Maybe they took down a walker."

"Rick wouldn't risk it." JJ said as Daryl looked back at her.

"He wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down ONE walker. Or Shane. They'd do it quietly." She reasoned.

"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asked as she looked between her friend and Daryl.

He walked forward and spoke, "There's nothing we can do about it anyway. Can't run around these woods chasing echoes."

"So what do we do?" Lori asked, biting on her lower lip.

"Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway." Lori nodded as she listened to Daryl's answer, still worried.

"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back the RV." Andrea said as Lori looked back to only stay silent as she resumed walking. JJ started walking side by side with Daryl until they heard Andrea speak again as she approached Carol, the rest of them stopping again to listen. "I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel."

"I suppose you do. Thank you." She stopped and looked back at Daryl, Glenn, JJ and Lori. "The thought of her out there by herself…it's the not knowing that's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying she doesn't wind up like Amy." All of their eyes adverted to Andrea as soon as Carol spoke the words and almost as quick as she said it she looked back at Andrea, an apologetic expression plastered on her face.

"Oh, god." She grabbed Andrea's forearms. "That's the worst thing I ever said."

Andrea shook her head and looked back at Carol, "We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth." They looked at each other for a few seconds before JJ felt Daryl move from her side and walk towards the two women.

"I'll tell you what it's worth—not a damn thing. It's a waste of time all this hoping and praying." He stopped then looked into Carol's eyes. "Cause we're gonna locate that little girl, she's gonna be just fine. Am I the only one zen around here?" He asked as he started walking away, murmuring a 'good lord' as he walked past JJ whom couldn't help but smile at the determination in Daryl's tone when he spoke. She knew he noticed the smile and sent her a quick look saying 'what the hell are you smiling for?' before resuming the walk. She looked back at Lori and they both smiled. JJ followed quickly behind Daryl just as she was before that and they quietly continued making their way back to the highway.

It had taken an hour before someone asked how much farther they had until they reached the highway. The answer had been given by Daryl and they had at least a hundred yards which had Andrea complain as the rest all continued walking without a word. JJ looked up to the sky and yet again reached for an aspirin, which, this time, she broke in half before swallowing it.

"What did you just take?" Glenn asked her as she swiftly turned her head towards him.

"Oh, just an aspirin. Headache, that's all." She told him reassuringly as she smiled. He nodded and smiled back.

"NOOO!" They heard Andrea screaming, realizing she had walked further away. "Help me!" They heard her scream as they approached and finally were in sight of Andrew whom was on the ground kicking at the walker until the walker was thrown on the ground by a hit. A hit given by a baseball bat and a young woman sitting atop a horse.

"Lori. Lori Grimes?" The young woman asked.

"I'm Lori."

The young woman looked at Lori, "Rick sent me. You've got to come now."

"What?" Lori asked, confused.

"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot." They all froze as she continued. "He's still alive but you've got to come now. Rick needs you. Just come." Lori immediately took her backpack off of her and let it fall to the ground as Daryl tried stopping her.

The mysterious girl continued as Lori got on the horse, "Rick said you had other on the highway, that big traffic snarl? Backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. The name is Greene." She explained as she gave a light kick of her feet on the horse and they were off.

JJ bent down and reached for Lori's bag as she watched Lori and the girl disappear. She heard a small moan coming from her left and as she looked in that direction she saw the walker sitting back up. Daryl raised his crossbow and aimed towards, "Shut up." And killed it as he walked away.

* * *

The small group had gotten back to the highway not long after Lori had ridden away with the mysterious woman. None of them had really spoken about what had happened. The moment they had gotten back Dale was asking them about where Lori was. Daryl and Glenn both gave answers and had the question arose as to what they were going to do now, Carol was quick to let them know she wouldn't leave until they found Sophia. Understandable her decision was but that brought another question—who was going to go at the farm the woman had spoken of to reunite with the rest? After some talking the decision was made that only Glenn and T-Dog would go and meet with the others, seeing as T-Dog needed the help with the cut he had. Luckily, Daryl had his brother's stash and some painkillers were in it. Before dark fell upon them, Glenn and T-Dog left with the medication and their bags to find that farm, leaving them the instructions the woman had given so they would be able to find it if the decision to meet them back there was ever made.

JJ had proposed to do the first shift atop the camper to give Dale some time to rest. He thanked her and gave her his rifle as she climbed the ladder and sat herself in the small chair. She continuously scanned her surroundings during her watch, only taking quick breaks once he gave her some food. She found herself munching and staring off into the distance all the while staying quite alert to any sound around her. When Dale had come back once the sun had disappeared, it was to tell her he'd take over while she got some rest and she simply nodded, telling the man he needed to rest more. He simply gave her one of those reassuring smiles and climbed down the ladder as she let her head fall down, a small smile tugging at her lips. Her eyes drifted to her bags, her lips now falling into a thin line, as she reached for it. This, taking that other half of aspirin, would technically be the fourth aspirin she took that day for her ongoing, and non-stopping, headaches. She hoped a good night of rest would do it when it came to the headaches. She brought her hand up to her mouth and put the aspirin in it as she reached for the nearly empty bottle of water and took a sip, swallowing both the water and aspirin. She licked her lips and closed the bottle.

As she took some well-deserved rest with the others, she couldn't deny noticing, even half-asleep, that Daryl and Andrea had gone off during the night looking for little Sophia. She heard Dale asking if it was a good idea only to be cut off by Andrea's annoyed voice. She tried going back to sleep but Carol's crying kept her from sleeping. She got up and approached Carol, touching her arm slightly as she sat on the bed.

"Hey, I'm just going up to talk to Dale some. Try to convince the man to get some rest. If he doesn't budge, I'll be back soon, okay?" Carol nodded and wiped a tear away as JJ got up.

"Go, I'll be fine." She said with a small smile but the words stopped JJ from going. She sat back down and looked at Carol.

"What did I say back at camp?" She asked Carol delicately. Carol gave her a sad smile.

"I'm worried about my baby…" She started sobbing, "Out there, alone in the woods…" She cried harder as JJ slowly put an arm around Carol, trying to comfort her as best as she could.

"Shhh. Everyone is looking for her. We all want Sophia back." She told Carol as her sobbing slowly died down.

"What if—what if she doesn't come back? What if we don't find her?" JJ opened her mouth to answer to that question but closed it again. She honestly had no idea. It was either they find her or…she's dead. Or maybe by some sort of luck she stumbled unto a nice and welcoming group that would take care of her until they found her. That last one seemed too good to even sound true.

JJ opened her mouth again and this time, said, "Being honest here," Carol nodded as she looked at the young woman, waiting for an answer, "I honestly don't know what we'll do…but I promise you that I will keep searching for as long as I have to." She told Carol.

Carol smiled and held back tears, "Thank you. Thank you…the fact that you all are searching is…just…thank you." JJ smiled.

"Go and talk to Dale. I'll be good here. I'll try to sleep." Carol told her as JJ looked at her, eyebrows furrowed in slight worry about leaving her alone. "I'll be fine, really." Not entirely sure JJ nodded and got up as Carol gave her one last smile before comfortably lying down and turning her back to JJ.

JJ walked towards the door as she gave Carol one last look before opening the door and going outside. The night breeze was much cooler than it was the day before and it was truly comforting as JJ closed her eyes and breathed the fresh air, the smell of decaying bodies almost completely impossible to notice during the night. Or maybe it was because they had grown so accustomed to the smell. Either way, the breeze was fresh and the smell not so horrible. She turned around and climbed the ladder, reaching the top and meeting with Dale's gaze.

"Can't sleep?" He asked as she fully climbed and sat herself near him, shaking her head.

"I was half asleep when they left to look for Sophia. Couldn't sleep much afterwards." She said talking about Andrea and Daryl leaving. "Which way did they go?"

Dale pointed towards the wood, in another direction than the one they had gone to during the day. She nodded and looked towards the woods as she heard him sigh.

"She's with Daryl, she'll be fine." Dale looked at her and furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"What's with the sudden Daryl-admiration?" He asked as she smiled.

"Not admiration nor is it sudden. But credit is given where credit is due." Was all she said.

He smiled, "Because he saved your life?"

"Not just because of that." She answered as she looked down at her feet. She looked up at him, "Please go to sleep. You're exhausted."

He chuckled, "Not just yet. I'll wait for them to come back." She shook her head with a small smile.

"Please God, let them come back so Dale can go to sleep." She joked as he chuckled some more. She looked up at the sky and thought. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked at Dale.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked her. She sighed heavily.

"My mother, my father, my brother…even my ex." She chuckled on the last one and he joined her in the chuckling.

"Did you get to talk to them before everything went crazy?" He asked her.

"Yeah. Only to my mum and father. My brother was on a road trip with his best friend, my ex." She explained as he laughed.

"Your brother was on a trip with your ex?" She nodded and smirked.

"Sounds weird I know, but they were best friends before we dated and it was an amicable break-up, mutual. So, they stayed best friends." She said.

"Did you both date for long?" He leaned his elbows on his knees, waiting for her answer.

She looked at Dale, "Four years and two months." She paused. "I learned a while after we broke up that if things hadn't gone the way they did, well, I could have been married."

"Wow." Was all Dale could say as he looked at her.

She shook her head, "I know." They quietly chuckled. She thought back on the first time after her ex and herself actually spent time again together with her family after breaking up and she couldn't help but smile.

_JJ and her mum were in the kitchen as they washed the dishes quietly, her father sitting in the living room watching TV. They had kept two extra plates of cake so her brother, Jordan, and Lucas, his best friend and her ex, could eat once they came back from watching the hockey game. This was going to be the first time Lucas would spend time with her family after they had broken up just a few weeks before and she couldn't deny being nervous, wondering if the atmosphere was going to be awkward. _

"_We're back!" She heard her brother yell, as per usual, as he entered the house. She rolled her eyes as she dried her hands and walked into the living, meeting with her brother and Lucas. _

"_We lost." Was all she said. _

_Her brother frowned, "How do YOU know?" She knew he asked because she didn't like the sport and didn't care about watching it. Putting a hand on her hip she pointed with the other towards the TV and smirked._

"_How do you think? Dad yelled and changed the channel which is code for 'we lost'." She told him._

_Lucas took a few steps and stood next to Jordan, "Well, at least, they tried and played well."_

"_Played well? When do they ever?" JJ said as Lucas rolled his eyes at her. _

"_You just hate the game." She smiled and turned around when she heard her mother come in._

"_You'll argue later boys. Now come and eat." They both looked at each other and removed their coats. Her brother walked past her and kissed her at the top of her head as she pinched his side. Lucas followed closely behind and grabbed her shoulder as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. She smiled and patted his back as she followed him inside the kitchen. She walked to the sink and finished doing the dishes, listening to the boys talking about the game._

"Well, would you look at that, God heard your prayer." JJ shook her head out of the memory and looked ahead of her. She saw some lights coming from their flashlights and they both, Dale and her, got up and went down the ladder. When she got down she met with Daryl's gaze and he looked at her for a mere second before he opened the door to the camper and walked in. JJ looked at Andrea then at Dale as the latter told her to go in and sleep. Andrea further insisted when she told Dale she'd keep watch. JJ nodded and opened the door to the camper, walking in and closing it. She looked to her right and saw Daryl, her back to her, quickly look at her as he looked back at Carol's sleeping form before lying back on the floor. She sighed and walked to the passenger seat of the RV, sitting in it and waiting for sleep to consume her.

Morning came too quickly for everyone's liking. The sun was barely up when JJ heard noise coming from outside. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Dale talking to Carol outside. She turned her head and noticed that no one was in the camper. She shook her head and got up as she opened the door and walked outside. She stretched her legs and arms as she took small steps to Dale.

"Good morning." She told Dale as he smiled at her.

"Good morning to you too." He told her as she squinted which made laugh. "Not quite awake yet, aren't ya?" She nodded.

"I thought you'd wake me up." She honestly told him.

"You were looking like you were sleeping good. Didn't want to disturb ya." He replied.

She took his arm and squeezed it lightly, "Thank you." She looked around and then back at Dale, "What are we doing now?"

"Daryl and Carol put some supplies and a sign up on one of the cars for Sophia." He sighed.

She nodded and stated, "So we're going to the farm." Dale gave her a small sad smile before nodding.

"Here." He handed her keys. "Shane wanted to take that car," he pointed to the said car, "his stuff is in it. Could you drive it to the farm?"

She took the keys out of his hand and nodded, "I'll get my stuff." She walked back to the camper and got her bags. She walked back out and made her way to the car, opening the door and getting in it.

As she started the car, she mumbled to herself, "Man, I haven't driven a car in a while." She chuckled as she looked up and saw the camper move, turning around and started making its way back. She waited for the truck that Carol drove to pass before following her as they drove to the farm where their other friends were.

* * *

She found herself enjoying the ride over to the farm, the feeling of driving again and the landscape looking nothing like the world had ended. To her right was a small hill and as they drove further it disappeared to let her eyes fall upon a nice house. Following the dirt roads up to the house they quickly arrived and parked the cars right outside the house, quickly exiting each car. JJ's gaze quickly fell on Glenn and smiled. She then saw Rick and Lori coming out of the house along with a woman and an old man. They finally all met up and looked at Rick whom looked absolutely exhausted.

Dale was the first to ask, "How is he?"

Lori nodded and smiled, "He'll pull through," she looked back, "thanks to Hershel and his people."

"And Shane." Rick cut in, "We'd have lost Carl if not for him." Everyone looked at Shane whom was standing in the back, quiet. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Dale approach Rick, hugging him, expressing how happy he was Carl was okay. JJ smiled and walked up to Rick, he smiled and hugged her quickly. She leaned back and walked to Lori, smiling and hugging as quick before the question arose.

"How'd it happen?" Dale asked.

Quick, Rick responded, "Hunting accident. That's all—just a stupid accident." They all smiled and Rick quickly introduced the group to Hershel's family. They all thanked him for being so kind and taking care of Carl and T-Dog. As they talked with the family they learned that one of their own had sacrificed himself for Shane to get out and be able to save Carl.

And to pay their respect, and also thank the man, they asked if they could attend the small service they had planned. Hershel led them to a tree where rocks had been pilled up, where Otis', the man's name, body would have been, leaving an empty grave there under. They all took place in a circle around the grave. JJ was the last one to find a place as she stood between Daryl and Glenn and looked at the grave before her. One by one, family members took a rock and placed it atop the pile as they walked back to their place. She watched as Hershel took his bible out and read from it.

"Blessed be God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to Him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank You, God, for the peace he enjoys in Your embrace. He died as he lived, in grace." A sudden urge took over JJ and she looked back at Shane, the last man to have seen Otis alive. He wore a look of complete numbness. As if he was remembering the night where Otis had been taken away. She frowned as she continued to look at him until Hershel asked of him to speak of Otis.

"I'm not good at it." His raspy voice spoke as he looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"You were the last one with him." Patricia, Otis' wife, sobbed. "You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning." All eyes had turned to Shane, waiting to see if he'd do it. His eyes now looked lost, void of emotion as he looked back at Patricia then to the grave.

"Meaning." He whispered before closing his eyes for a second as he began speaking. "We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We've got to save the boy.' See that's what he said." Shane paused the moment he began to choke up, "He gave me his backpack. Shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back…" He stopped, looked at Patricia and walked forward, knowing everyone understood what happened at that moment.

He continued a few seconds later, "If not for Otis," he took a rock and looked back at every single one of them, "I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl, too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his." He put his hand forward and placed the rock of the pile. He walked back and took his place as they all silently paid their respect. One by one, starting with Hershel and Patricia. Then Maggie, Beth and Jimmy. Then Rick, Lori, Shane and Carol. And seconds after Dale and Daryl, only leaving JJ as she looked back at Shane's limping form then back at the empty grave, a frown on her face. She walked to the pile of rocks and laid a hand upon it. After a few seconds she started walking back, following in the other's footsteps.

She met back with them as the house and was quickly called over by Rick. She looked from the house to Rick then walked to him. He, along with others, stood around a truck.

"How long as this girl been lost?" Hershel asked once JJ reached the small group.

"This'll be day three." Rick answered as Maggie approached with a map in her hands.

"County survey map." She said, putting the map on the car as she opened it wide. "Shows terrain and elevations."

Shane held the top of the map to keep it straight as he spoke, "This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized."

"We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams." Rick declared as Hershel looked back at him.

"Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes out in this heat before passing out." Hershel then looked at Shane, "And your ankle—push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody." Shane sighed, knowing Hershel was right.

"Guess it's just me." Daryl said.

"And me." JJ chimed in as she looked at Daryl quickly before looking at Rick. "In a team we won't do any good. Better if we cover different areas. We'd cover more ground." She reasoned to Rick, knowing he'd be opposed to the idea of her going out there alone. He looked at her and nodded, looking back at Daryl.

"I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there." Daryl said as Rick nodded.

"JJ, how about you do the same but from here." He pointed on the map and it was on the opposite side from where Daryl would start. "If you happen to meet up, I want you both to come back or search if there's still light. If not, just come back before dark." JJ nodded and looked back at Daryl who did the same.

"I can still be useful." Shane started. "I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back."

"Alright, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right." Rick decided.

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." Shane said as they all looked at Hershel.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp." He maintained, looking from Rick to Shane.

"With all due respect," Shane started, "you get a crowd of those things wandering in here…" He stopped as Rick started speaking, looking between both Hershel and Shane.

"Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we WILL respect that." Rick insisted as he looked at Shane. He reached for his gun then took it out, putting it on the hood of the truck. Shane stared at him before doing the same. JJ was reaching for hers when Rick stopped her. "But I insist she keeps it as a precaution while she's out. She knows to only use it if absolutely necessary. I guarantee she'll give it up once she comes back." Rick said as he looked at Hershel who only gave her a nod as she leaned on the hood of the truck.

Rick sighed then looked at everyone, "First things first: set camp, find Sophia."

Shane interjected by saying, "Man, I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to." He stopped then continued, "What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."

Rick's jaw clenched and pondered for a moment before answering, "You do what has to be done."

"And her mother? What do you tell her?" Maggie asked, completely horrified at the idea of killing a little girl even if she was bit.

Andrea looked at the back of Maggie's head as she answered, "The truth." JJ caught the small look Hershel gave his daughter and frowned as she leaned back.

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying until we're at a practice range off site." Shane started as he turned to Hershel, "I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience."

Seeing the doubt in Hershel's face, Rick turned to him and said, "Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." Hershel looked at Rick then sent his gaze flying towards Shane as he gave him a small, barely noticeable nod. "Thank you." Rick said as he looked at Shane, Daryl and JJ. They all started walking away. JJ walked to her bags and grabbed her smaller one, filling it up with what was necessary for the search ahead. She walked to the camper and went into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the small mirror and undid her hair, wincing as she did so because of her tangled hair. She took the brush she had taken from the CDC and brushed her hair quickly before tying it again. She sighed and exited the camper, bag on her shoulder. She saw Rick sitting on the house's stairs and as he saw her, he gestured for her to come closer. Her eyebrows furrowed and she hurried her steps as she walked to him.

"You're about to go?" Rick asked as she put her hands in her pockets, looking down at him.

"Yeah. I'll be back before dark." She reassured him.

Rick nodded and looked up at her, "Be careful out there."

"I will be." She promised as she gave him a light smile. "Stay quiet and stay sharp. Isn't that what you said?" He smiled a bit and nodded.

"Yeah, exactly what I said. Quiet and sharp, you can do that?" She nodded.

"Of course. I better go if I want to come back." She told him as she turned and started walking, looking back at him and waving. When she turned her head back she caught Daryl walking out, also making his way out. That was until Rick called him. JJ looked back but didn't stay and kept walking, heading into the woods.

* * *

Daryl had left after Rick stopped him and pondered on the words he told him. Not the part about not owing anything to the group but the part where they talked about the girl. The girl in this situation being the new girl, JJ. She wasn't so much the new girl anymore seeing as mostly everyone treated her like she had been part of the group since the beginning. Daryl still had no idea on how to act around her. So far it had been quick small banters or just quick glances but nothing else. She didn't bother him at all. Not like she ignored him, she acknowledge his presence but in a quiet manner that reminded him of his own.

Forgetting the fact she had punched him in the first few minutes after he came back to the camp when they were at quarry, she was, he'd never admit out loud, a decent girl. Only decent because he didn't know much about her. Mysterious was the word that very well described her and he, hating to admit it even to himself, hated not knowing anything about her. In the first few days when the group had formed they had exchanged stories, even Daryl and Merle joined in. He had at least an idea of what everyone did before or how they were but not her. A complete mystery.

The day was well on its way and Daryl was almost halfway through his part of the creek and its surroundings. He'd taken his time and searched thoroughly of course but there was nothing to be found. He turned his head to the right and noticed something. He squinted his eyes and got closer, stepping out of the woods to stumble unto an, what looked like, abandoned farmhouse. He took his crossbow off of his back and loaded a bolt in, just in case. He got to the front of the house and climbed the stairs as he stood in front of the doors. He kicked the door in and immediately his crossbow went up, ready to shoot. He took careful steps as he walked in, the floor creaking under his feet. He turned to his left into an area that looked like a living room, looked around and went back into the hallway. He walked down when he noticed a small patio door opened. He got closer and looked inside the room closest to that door. There was no furniture at all, it was just empty and dusty.

A noise attracted his attention, a creaking noise. Like someone was walking around. He checked the stairs and then turned into another room, the kitchen, as he looked around and noticed a small, recently opened, can of tuna. He bent the can and let the contents of the can splatter on the floor. His gaze went up to an opened pantry door, he raised his crossbow again and with his left hand reached for the door, opening it to find nothing in it. He looked down noticing a blanket and pillow on the floor of the pantry, like someone had been holed up inside.

He finished checking the rest of the house and stepped out, yelling Sophia's name a couple of times to see if she'd hear him but nothing, he was completely alone. He turned around and noticed, near the small pond beside the house, a small bush with flowers popping off at the top. He walked towards it and bent down to touch one of the flowers. He looked at the sky then back at the flower. It wasn't just any flower. He knew what kind of flower it was.

It was a Cherokee rose.

* * *

It hadn't been long since JJ had found this small house in the middle of nowhere. It had been raided long ago, probably when everything first started and had probably been inhabited for as long. She noticed a small shack not too far behind and went to look at it first. She looked around it, gun in hand in case anything came out and surprised her. She got back to the front of the shack and kicked the door open. Only one walker on its knees was there. She put her gun back and took out her machete as it started moving. It got up quickly as it saw her. JJ took a few steps back and waited for it to come out. As it stepped out she reached, with one of her hands, for its shoulder, grabbed it and raised her other hand and planted the machete from under its chin. The walker moaned and went limp as she removed the machete from its head, hearing the walker fall with a thump on the floor. She had been unlucky and had met three, now four, walkers since the start of her search. She scanned for any movement coming from the woods and when nothing happened she made her way towards the small house, deciding to inspect it.

Walking in front of the house she stood there for a few seconds before walking up the wooden stairs, which creaked under her feet making her face scrunch up._ So much noise I'm making with those damn stairs. _She thought as she reached for the door handle and opened it. There was barely any light in the house and she found herself squinting as she entered, trying to adjust to the lighting. She took careful steps as she wandered around the house, searching for any sign that Sophia might have been there. She went up to the second floor and didn't have to search for long seeing as there were only two rooms. She went back downstairs and entered the kitchen and searched the cupboards for anything edible to keep. An angry sighed escaped her lips when she found nothing.

That's when she heard the steps and the front door creak one after the other, stopping her dead in her tracks. She put the machete on the counter and reached for her gun. She paid attention to every movement the walker, she believed, made as it walked around. She listened and looked at the small door that separated the dining room from the kitchen, the noise making its way inside the dining room. She approached the door and waited, gun up and her finger loose on the trigger and she waited. It seemed like it was taking its time because it walked around and stopped from time to time before starting to walk again. It finally reached the door and stopped. She frowned and waited. She heard it take a step. She inhaled and backed away from the door far enough so it wouldn't hit her. That's when the door flung open and she aimed her gun only to bring it down while cursing under her breath.

"Shit." She swore. "I could have freakin' killed you, you know that?"

"Ya wouldn't have been able to, I would have killed ya first." She scoffed as she looked into Daryl's blue eyes.

"Well, know that I would have haunted your ass Daryl." She exclaimed as a light smirk appeared on his face before disappearing behind his typical serious expression. They both breathed heavily as they looked around. "You find anything?"

He nodded, "Found blankets and a pillow in a house not too far from here. Someone holed up in there for a while, someone small." He said as she walked back into the kitchen, Daryl following her as she went to take her machete.

"Sophia-kinda small?" She asked looking back at him and he nodded. That was a sort of relief, knowing she may have tried hiding in the house for a while.

"You?" He inquired as she shook her head.

She pointed towards the back, "Only a walker holed up in a shack behind the house. I got attacked by three walkers when I first reached the creek. Two of 'em were feeding on a buck."

"You bit?" He wondered as he squinted his eyes trying to see if she had any scratches or bite marks. She shook her head.

"No." She told him as she continued, "One almost surprised me from behind but I heard it and killed it. The two that were feeding heard and came to me, one tripped and I killed the other. The last one didn't get the chance to get up."

He looked at her, "Looks like I didn't have to save yer ass again." He mumbled as she scoffed again, something, he noticed, she did often. "Did ya check the whole house?" She nodded.

"We should go. Before it gets dark." She stated, remembering Rick's words. He bit on his lip and nodded as they walked out the house, Daryl leading.

As they walked back to the farm JJ realized that for the first time they held a conversation. Of course there was a small banter as per usual but they had spoken to each other, which is something that so far had never happened. They exchanged glances and words, a banter, here and there but this, to JJ's surprise, had been nice. She watched him from the corner of her eye and noticed the expression he held back in the forest when the entire group had first gone to search for Sophia—determination. She could tell that right at this moment he was thinking of where the little girl could be. That he had gotten so close but yet so far to finding her today. She smiled and looked ahead of her as they continued walking in complete silence.

Daryl found himself looking at JJ from time to time thinking that anytime soon she'd start a conversation, something he dreaded. But she never did, she simply kept silent and looked around as she stayed alert to anything that went on around them. If it would have been anyone else from the group they would have tried to get him to talk, especially old man Dale. And that would have ended with Daryl telling him, or the others, to shut up. But not her…no, she stayed quiet and gave him the peace he wanted, never annoying him. Making him think that instead of being a simply decent girl she was a nice girl, an understanding one at that. He shook his head at the thoughts as he looked ahead and saw Hershel's house.

As they reached the house they both directly tried to find Rick, which happened to be easy as he sat at the small picnic table near where the others had put up their tents. He quickly got up when he saw them, taking a few steps towards them.

"How'd it go?" He asked, relieved to see the both of them fine.

"Fine. Here." She started as she gave him her gun. "Give that to Shane." He nodded and looked at Daryl as JJ looked back and forth between the two men.

"Found blankets in small house, someone small was holed up in there." He explained quick and simply. Rick sighed.

"You think it could be Sophia?" He asked.

JJ chimed in, "It's a possibility."

"She's right. The kid's scared. She probably hid and slept there until something scared her out of the place." Daryl finished, shifting his weight continuously from one leg to the other. Rick nodded and looked at the both of them.

"Alright. We'll continue the search tomorrow. Thanks, both of you." He said as he walked away. They both stood there for a few seconds before glancing at the other. She nodded towards him and started walking away under his gaze. He did the same seconds afterwards, walking to his tent.

JJ watched Daryl from far away as he walked to his tent and entered it before turning her back, walking towards the camper. She waved to Dale and entered, her eyes widening at the clean interior of the RV. She caught Carol's gaze and smiled quickly.

"You're back." Carol greeted quietly. "I take it everything went good?"

"Without a hitch." She replied, not entirely sure if she should tell her about what Daryl found. She thought for a second and she quietly pointed to the bathroom. A small chuckle escaped Carol's lips as she nodded. JJ smiled and with her bag, entered the bathroom and closed the door.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she look at herself in the mirror for the second time that day. _Man, I need a shower. _She thought as reached inside of her bag for the bottle of aspirin, opening it and taking another two aspirin before stopping herself. She pondered on whether or not she should take two of them, seeing as the bottle was nearly empty. She decided against taking both of them and put them back in the bottle, closing it and letting it fall into her back. _I'm not gonna have aspirin forever, I need to start stocking up on it. _She leaned against the sink, letting her head fall in her hands as she tried keeping her breathing steady. She heard the door to the RV open and it served as a distraction to the oncoming migraine.

She listened as the person walked in front of the bathroom only to stop right where she stood before when she spoke to Carol.

"I cleaned up." She heard Carol say. "Wanted it to be nice for her."

"For a second I thought I was in the wrong place." _Daryl. _

JJ hated listening to conversations without actually being wanted there. Or in this case, without one person knowing she was there but it must not have bothered Carol much because she didn't say anything. It stayed silent for a while before Carol's quiet voice spoke again.

"A flower."

"It's a Cherokee rose." She heard him say before explaining. "It's a Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow where the mothers' tears fell. I'm not fool enough to think there's any flowers blooming for my brother. But I believe this one bloomed for your little girl."

Not realizing until he stopped speaking, JJ wiped one of the tears that had fallen down on her cheek. _Why the hell am I crying for? _She thought as she laughed to herself, hearing Daryl's steps fade way as he made his way to the door. She waited, dried her tears away and opened the door to the bathroom once he had exited the RV. She turner her head to the right and looked at Carol whom still had tears threatening to fall down as she looked up at JJ with a small smile. JJ opened her mouth to say something only to have Carol nod towards the Cherokee rose. JJ looked at it and smiled as she looked back at Carol whom simply nodded. As if that small exchange had been a discussion, they understood everything that was meant to be said and that without one word. JJ exited the camper minutes later, looking composed and just as she did when she entered it. The noise the door made as it closed attracted everyone's attention but they all went back to what they were doing in a matter of seconds.

Daryl was the only that found himself not being able to tear his eyes away from the camper once she came out. His memory was in shambles over the fact that he did not remember her going in after he came out. He didn't remember her going in at all. It was after she came and took a seat that Daryl grew worried because once she sat, plate in hand, she looked at him. Didn't smile or nod. She simply looked at him then adverted her gaze from his eyes.

It dawned on him then that she had heard everything.

* * *

**My first chapter of 2013, this is it. I've been working on this non-stop for two days now and man, am I tired. I really do hope you guys liked it because I loved writing this chapter.**

**Starting at this part, things will slow down and as you read, JJ and Daryl finally have more interaction. Finally, I say, after nine chapter technically. We're getting to the good part I believe. Part (and parts) where I've had ideas written since the beginning of this story so this is pretty exciting for me. Now to answer & respond to reviews, haha :)**

**FanFicGirl10's question: Is JJ's illness deadly? And the answer is: I can't tell, sorry :( to be honest, I'm still trying to figure it out by myself, kinda...haha. **

**JoolR: Merci beaucoup pour le commentaire, j'apprécie beaucoup et ça me fais chaud au coeur. Passe de belles fêtes aussi et bonne année! :)**

**So this is it guys. Happy New Year and I wish all the best to you guys! Lots of love! Good health! Success in everything! **

**R&R Constructive comments. No bashing, 'cause if you don't like then don't read, as simple as that. **

**And again, HAPPY NEW YEAR :D**


	11. Chapter 10

**HELLO GUYS! I AM SO SORRY! The time that passed since the last chapter and now was way too long and I deeply apologize. Not only was I out of inspiration but I was busy. More about that down there. **

**I own nothing except my OC. ENJOY!**

* * *

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 10**

"Fate"

It didn't go unnoticed by JJ the way Daryl fidgeted. He was his usual quiet self but his eyes barely left either his lap or the plate he held in his hands. Not once did he look up from his plate during dinner and the only time he looked away was when he finished, getting up to put plate back on the chair and left to his tent. Carol and herself being the only people to notice him leaving.

The words he spoke at the end of his story about the Cherokee rose rang in her head while she ate off her plate, poking around it when too in trance. _I'm not fool enough to think there's any flowers blooming for my brother. _Her eyes drifted to his tent for a second before getting up looking down at her plate, most of what was is in it still untouched.

"Anyone want the rest?" She offered, their gazes all looking up at her. She felt uncomfortable under their gazes before Dale spoke up, a worried look on his face.

"You—you barely ate." Dale stated pointing at her plate.

She smiled, "I'm not too hungry." When no one made a move to take her plate she pressed on. "Go on. I'm fine, really." It took a few seconds before T-Dog made a move and reached for her plate, nodding in thanks before walking to everybody and dividing what was in her plate in theirs. She slowly started walking around Hershel's land, enjoying the little bit of light there was left to the day. Although she walked all day long through the woods in search for Sophia, just being able to walk and forget for a moment was a treat. Her eyes stuck on the ground, kicking the same rock over and over until she lost sight of it somewhere in the grass. She stopped in front of the barn, staring at it for a few seconds before a frown appeared on her face. She squinted her eyes at it and scoffed.

"Creepy looking barn." She whispered looking at it one more time before kicking the ground, resuming her walk around. She looked around her and admired, quite literally admired the beauty and untouched pureness of the land. It was a rare thing these days to not see walkers for more than a few meters in certain places. So, to have a land clear and as beautiful as this one was a miracle. This was the fresh air she desperately needed and craved for weeks now. "Not fool enough to think there's any flowers for my brother…" She repeated while glancing back at the camp.

"Jordan…" She looked up at the sky. "Do you think it's fool of me to now believe there's a flower blooming for you out there?" She wondered out loud hoping she wasn't being a fool to do so, to believe that somewhere in this world her brother was still alive. She was pretty sure Daryl didn't think that a flower bloomed for his brother but that there was hope, or a chance, he had survived that long. That he was somewhere walking and surviving as best as he could until he'd be found.

It's when she looked up and saw a few stars in the sky that she realized that her walk had been maybe too long. She turned her head to the right, taking note of how close, too close, she was to the woods especially with night falling. She stared off into the dark for a while, waiting for rustling to come from the trees but nothing came.

"Ya know," She jumped and turned around facing Daryl, a hand going to her chest, "I think ya got the old man on yer back now." Her eyebrows furrowed and she opened her mouth.

"Dale?" She asked.

He shifted his weight from leg to leg, "Had to beg me to come and get ya. I went so he'd stop botherin'." She scoffed and grinned as she walked closer to him, making sure she didn't have her back to close to the forest.

"He could've asked Rick or Glenn." She suggested.

"The man's with his kid and wife. And Chinaman is already sleepin' in his tent." He answered, looking back at the house then at her.

"Korean and well, then he could've asked Shane if it was so much of a bother to you." She said, her hands going to her hips as she looked into his eyes.

He looked at the ground then her again, "Said he'd prefer if it wasn't Shane." She frowned and looked down at her feet, swallowing the sudden lump that had appeared there. She nodded, lips pursing for a second before looking back at him.

"Well, thank you…and sorry if I was a bother." She chuckled, playing with that same strand of hair that kept falling from her ponytail. She started walking and passed him, wondering if she should turn around and tell him what she wanted to say but she decided against it, afraid to make him uncomfortable with acknowledging that she heard everything and that she knew he knew. She turned around and looked at him, seeing he hadn't moved, "You comin'?" He looked at her and they both started walking back to the camp in dead silence.

When they got back to camp Dale was quick to notice her as she waved at him, smiling. She turned her head to Daryl and nodded to him as he looked over at her quickly doing the same before she headed off to see Dale atop of the RV. She climbed the ladder and seated herself near him.

"Thanks for sending someone to get me. I didn't realize I was gone that long. " She said looking back at Daryl whom had just stepped foot in his tent.

"You were gone for a while. I started to worry when you didn't come back when it got dark." He confessed as she chuckled.

"I didn't see time go by. I was lost in my thoughts and enjoyed my walk a bit too much I guess." She said.

He looked at her, "Those thought's keepin' you from eating?"

She looked up at him, "Yeah. I think they are."

"Wanna tell me about it?" He offered before she just shrugged it off with a wave and a smile.

"Just the same thoughts about family, nothing to worry about but thank you." He lifted his hands up before they both chuckled. "I should get some sleep. If you need to rest, come and get me. I'll keep watch."

He thanked her then wave his hands, shooing her, "Go sleep now. You had a long day, we all had." She smiled and got up, nodding.

"Goodnight Dale."

"Goodnight JJ." He replied as she climbed down. She looked over at the house, mentally telling herself that she'd go and see how Carl was the next morning before going off to search for Sophia. She opened the door to the camper and went into the passenger seat, wanting to rest. She knew she wouldn't sleep much but she would try.

Her thoughts were in shambles over her thinking about her family, the Cherokee rose speech given by Daryl to Carol and how relationships evolved and dissolved in instants. It scared her not knowing where she would stand the week after considering the life they were now leading. A life of not knowing. She looked out the window and stared off into the darkness before letting fatigue take over her.

* * *

The next morning she found herself hurrying to eat her breakfast before grabbing her bag to meet Rick to see where she'd continue searching for Sophia that day. Before even wishing Rick a good morning she reached for the gun he handed her while nodding, still munching on her last bite. She quickly swallowed and leaned over the hood of the truck, watching over the map as she looked at Rick.

"Where do you want me to search today?" She asked him as he looked down at her with a small smile. "And good morning. How's Carl?"

"Good mornin'. Thanks to Hershel, Carl's stable." He told her as she smiled, telling him how relieved she was. He reached for yellow pieces of broken fabric and handed them to her. "I want you and Daryl to start the grid. Seems like Shane and I won't do much today again."

"Doctor's order?" She asked, a slight smile at the corner of her lips before he nodded, chuckling.

"You could say that." He paused and continued. "Shane will go back to the highway with Carol later today to check if Sophia went back and maybe scavenge some things. Daryl will go back to the house he found yesterday and that'll be the start of his grid. Instead of sticking closer to the creek like yesterday, I want him, and you, to look further in the woods and to nail those," he pointed towards the yellow fabric, "every fifty yards. So we'll know to continue forward another fifty yards until the next one. And you'll know if you've stepped into Daryl's grid. His color is different. "

"What's his?"

"Green." She nodded and stuck the pieces of fabric in her bag.

She looked back, "I'll start back at the empty house I found yesterday." His eyebrows furrowed. "Didn't think to tell you since I found nothing, sorry." He nodded.

"Where was that house you're talking about?" He asked her as she pointed approximately on the map. He looked over at the map for a few seconds and looked back at her. "Start back there, go further and after that round back and make you way back to the farm before dark, as usual. Try not to get to close to that road, stay in the woods." He explained, showing her a small road, which was at the end of her grid.

"Alright." She mumbled while biting on her lower lip.

"Be careful." He advised her as he looked down at the young woman standing next to him.

"Sharp and quiet." She replied, pausing before continuing. "I should go now." He agreed and walked to Carol whom had prepared some snacks for her to eat during the day along with a small hammer and nails for the fabric. She stuffed all of those in her bag and waved, leaving the farm as she made her way towards the woods.

* * *

She stopped for a little while when the sun was at its highest and had to lean on a tree to rest, the heat now getting to her. She looked up and through the tree branches she felt the heat, and rays of sun, seeping through. She squinted and stayed liked that for a few seconds before letting her head fall back down, her back still leaning against the tree and resting her hands on her knees. She had been slower today that she had the day before, probably still exhausted from the search and everything that had happened in the past few days.

She stood straight, stretching before reaching into her bag for her bottle of water and taking a sip. The day had reached its peak regarding the heat but she knew she had to push herself so she'd reach close enough to the road before rounding back and going back to the farm. Although she wanted to search for Sophia until she wouldn't be able to do so anymore, she could not deny being exhausted and almost sleep deprived, her sleeping having been very light. Putting her bottle back in the bag, she continued to walk.

Every fifty yards she would nail a small yellow piece of fabric to a tree and once she got close to the road, she walked another sixty yards along the road and turned to her left before heading back into the forest to continue the search while heading back to the farm. She still had enough flags to nail for her way back. She stayed very aware of her surroundings, trying to pay attention to every sound and looking often at the ground for any trace of steps, maybe signifying Sophia had walked there. But nothing.

And that's how her way back to the farm was. Consisting of nailing the yellow flags every fifty yards, keeping hydrated, looking around for Sophia and trying to not attract any unnecessary attention, wanting no attacks from walkers. She felt relieved once she walked out of the woods, seeing the farm. She nailed her last flag on a tree near the edge of the forest before walking to the small camp where the group was.

As she approached the camp she noticed Glenn looking at her before getting up to walk to Rick, whom was talking with Shane at a picnic table. Rick looked to his left, noticing JJ approaching and got up as he met her halfway through her walk. She handed her gun to him as he asked her how the search at gone.

"Went well. I covered my whole grid but I found nothing." She began before looking back at the forest. "No walkers. It was awfully quiet out there." He nodded while looking back at the camp then back to her.

"Do you want to go back and start another grid tomorrow?" He asked as he looked towards the woods.

She nodded, "Yeah. Is it going to be only Daryl and I again?" She paused for a second then continued. "Did he get back yet?"

Rick shook his head, "Not yet, but it's not dark yet. He should be back soon." He also gave a pause to his sentence before answering her initial question. "And it'll be Shane, T-Dog, Andrea, Daryl, you and I tomorrow."

"Good, that's good." She nodded as she sighed. "How's Carol?"

Rick bit his lower lip then spoke, "She's keeping herself busy." It was all JJ needed to hear before nodding again.

"I'll go and wash up." She said but before she could move Rick stopped her.

"I asked Hershel some of us could wash up inside the house and he accepted. You just need to tell him or Maggie when you want to do so." She smiled and thanked him before walking to the camper. She reached for her other bag but as she searched for her other clothing, she noticed they were gone. She frowned and headed outside. She saw Carol close by and she walked to her.

"Carol!" She called out and she turned around. "Have you seen my other clothes?" She asked her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I took them and washed them." She began before leading JJ towards some clothing hanging on a rope. "They should be dry now." She patted the clothing to see if it was still damp and then took them off of the cord. She handed them to JJ, a smile small on her lips. JJ thanked her before heading back to the camper to get the rest of her things. She headed back out and walked towards the house. She quietly walked up the stairs and opened the door, walking in and immediately noticing Maggie sitting on the small couch. She turned her head towards JJ and gave her a small smile before getting up.

"Do you need anything?" She asked.

"Yeah, well, Rick said we could wash up…" She began as Maggie gave her a larger smile, her arm rising and pointed towards the stairs.

"Sure. It's the first door on your right. Do you need any towels?" She asked her and JJ nodded before she continued. "Use the one hanging near the shower and put it in the basket once you're done."

"Thank you Maggie." She smiled and Maggie did the same as JJ disappeared upstairs in the bathroom.

As she let her body relax before starting to remove her clothes she felt every single of her muscles ache. She ached from top to bottom, head to toe. The long hours of walking under the hot excruciating heat had taken its toll on her body and mind. Everyday she left the farm with a set mindset of finding Sophia but once she returned to the farm, her mindset had been crushed by the exhaustion and ache her body suffered. And the disappointment of not finding Sophia had been another one of those crushing feelings. Every day when she came back without any clue or no Sophia was another day she'd spend alone in the woods. That is if she was still alive. But JJ couldn't bring herself to think she was gone, bitten by a walker or worse, killed by the living. The worst of it all was when she came back and she had to look Carol in the eyes. Every time she shook her head and Carol's head went down before turning her back to JJ, continuing with her chores around the camp. Today had been different though. It was still no comfort to JJ.

She groaned when she removed her shirt, the pain really setting in. She removed every article of clothing and let them fall on the ground as she looked at herself in the small mirror of the Greene's bathroom. Her skin was slightly golden by the sun. She considered herself lucky for not getting sun burnt yet with all the time she spent in the sun. Dirt and sweat covered every part of her body. She couldn't help but purse her lips in disgust. Being dirty definitely wasn't one of her favorite things but she knew it didn't matter in their situation. No one longer cared about smelling something awful or being drenched in sweat or looking like they'd all crawled out of a grave. All that really mattered for them was surviving and staying as safe as they could, from walkers and people.

She opened the water and waited for it to be not too warm not too cold before stepping inside the shower. The same feeling of pure happiness when at the CDC filled her once again as the droplets of water started touching her skin. She couldn't stop the smile from appearing on her face and even surprised herself when she heard a chuckle escape her lips. Although she desperately wanted to take a slow shower she still hurried, not wanting to hog the bathroom for too long.

Once she stepped out of the shower she took a towel and wrapped it around her small body. Only once she was cleaned that she noticed all the small cuts on her legs and arms. None of them were deep or needed care, thankfully. She took her clean clothes once she was dry and got dressed with another pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and the same shoes she'd been wearing for days now. For the first time she let her hair loose, falling down on her shoulders and further down in the middle of her back. With her hair still damp she picked up all of her dirty clothes and exited the bathroom.

She arrived downstairs and left the house. The moment she stepped close enough to the camp she was met with Carol whom offered to take her dirty clothes to clean them. JJ thanked her as the woman delicately removed the clothes from her hold. JJ looked around and saw Glenn sitting on the grass, looking towards where the sun was starting to go down. She frowned and slowly made her way towards him. He still hadn't turned around when she was only a meter behind him. She stood there for a few minutes before finally saying something, which startled the young man as he turned around.

"Hey…" He said as he patted the place next to him. She sat down on the grass and brought her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them.

She turned her head towards him, "What's going on in that head of yours?"

He smiled before looking back towards the house then back at JJ, "Nothing."

"I don't think this," she gave a nod towards the house, "is nothing."

He sighed and removed his cap, "Yesterday I went on a pharmacy run with Maggie…" he started but paused as he looked at JJ.

"Go on…"

She could see the awkwardness forming in Glenn as he was thinking on whether to tell her or not. A huge sigh left his mouth as his shoulder slumped, "I had sex with Maggie."

For a millisecond JJ's eyes widened. And for once in her life she was speechless, unable to say anything as she looked from Glenn to the ground before her. She could feel Glenn's gaze on her as he waited for her to say something, "So…" he mumbled.

"I don't know what to say…" she honestly told him as she turned her head towards him. He swallowed hard then started nodding to himself as he let his head fall down. She bit her lower lip and continued to look at Glenn for a minute, opening her mouth then closing it a few times before looking in front of her as they both stayed in complete silence.

"Do…" She paused when his head whipped its way towards him, "do you like her?"

"Ye—I mean, I don't know her! I've known for what…like four days, not even…" He rambled, "I'm sure this wouldn't have happened if I had reached for the damn box of con—" he stopped himself as he looked, eyes widened, towards JJ.

"Box of? Of what? Con—" She stopped and it hit her. "Box of what Glenn?" She asked him, wanting to be sure it was what it was.

"Box of condoms." He mumbled. JJ shook her head.

"And why would you reach for a box of condoms?" She asked him, not entirely sure as to why he did so. "I mean…I don't mean to sound blunt, but reaching for that was almost asking for it…"

"I know, I know! But that wasn't what I reached for, that's what Maggie saw in my hands…" He quickly said, panic in his tone.

JJ frowned and held his gaze, "What were you reaching for then?" Glenn paled when she asked this and he immediately looked everywhere but at her.

"Uh, nothing important, really…anyways, in the end it was all a big misunderstanding." He ended.

"So…you didn't want to have sex with her?" Glenn immediately looked back at her and opened his mouth, "Or you didn't wanna have sex with her until you reached for that box?"

"I didn't plan to have sex with her!" He stated.

"I know, I know…but you liked it. You wouldn't mind if she came back to ask you for more." Glenn reddened at her words. "So I'm right then…"

His response was a sigh. She tightened her lips into a thin line, "Look, I don't know what to tell you. Relationships aren't my forte. Just don't try and get on Hershel's bad side. It's his daughter after all."

Glenn swallowed, "Yeah…"

"I'm sorry…I actually don't know what to say…" She replied as he smiled slightly.

"It's fine." She gave him a small smile before getting up.

"Come on, it was a long day for everyone I'm sure. Let's go rest." She told him and he nodded, following her until he went to his tent. She smiled as she walked towards a chair around the small fire. She sat in it and sighed.

"Everything okay?" Lori asked her.

"Yeah. I'm tired…" she paused, "and hungry."

Lori smiled, "I'll cook you some squirrel Daryl caught."

"He came back?" Lori nodded to her question. "When?"

"When you were in the house." Lori said.

"Oh." Was all JJ said. "Alright." They fell into silence. She watched Lori cook, her stomach grumbling nonstop until the plate with the meat was in her hands. She thanked Lori whom smiled at her before telling her she was going back into the house to see Carl. JJ simply nodded and ate in silence, everyone still busy.

The night had fallen quickly afterwards and it was now nearly two in the morning as JJ stood on top of the camper, keeping watch. She hadn't been able to sleep and exchanged spots with Shane at around ten. But now she was falling asleep. She hated when that happened. She knew Dale was going to take the next shift seeing as it couldn't be anyone else since most of the group was going out that day to look for Sophia.

When she heard someone climb the ladder she immediately grabbed her bag and when she turned around she met Dale. She smiled at him and wished him goodnight as he did the same. She was yawning at this point and almost rushed to go sleep.

* * *

The very next morning she woke up, she immediately went to Rick and told him that she'd go early, seeing as she planned on covering a lot more ground than she did the day before. He agreed and marked the area she would cover on the map. He'd gone to the bag of guns while she grabbed some piece of breads and a small protein bar along with a bottle of water. When Shane kept watch he'd been given pieces of cloth to cut into flags. This morning she'd received the same color as she did the day before. She rubbed her eyes as Rick made his way back with her gun, handing it to her. She thanked him and looked towards the woods, a yawn quickly escaping her lips.

"Are you gonna be alright?" He asked her as her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, why are you asking?"

"Dale's been telling me you don't sleep much. That you've been replacing him quite a lot. You sure you're not too tired to search?" She shook her head.

"I'm fine, really, I am. If it reassures you, tomorrow I'll take a full day's rest. No searching. I'll help around camp." She proposed.

He nodded, "Alright. Be careful out there. We'll be going soon." He paused then squinted. "Why so early?"

She looked up at him, "Why not?" She also took a pause then smiled a bit. "I decided to start early so that I could cover more ground." He gave her a nod.

She gave his arm a squeeze, "Sharp and quiet." She then walked towards the woods to get a head start for what looked like a long day of searching.

Rick watched her leave with worry. He didn't want to fight with her about her well being, seeing as she was awfully secretive about it. She was invested into the group and particularly into the search to find Sophia but as a person Rick knew very little. It didn't bother him much but he wanted her to trust him, and the group, fully with everything. Looking back one last time he moved back to the camp once she disappeared in the woods

She had felt his gaze on her back until she entered the woods. She couldn't help but feel guilty of her lie to Rick, the man whom fully trusted her and believed in her. But she knew enough about him that it would drive him into unnecessary worry according to her. There was much more to worry about in their current situation, such as Sophia and Carl. She didn't want to become a constant cause of worry. Especially to Rick, with all the stress and pressure he had on his shoulders. No reason he should have something else to worry about.

The day was looking like it was going to be another rough one. Although still early in the morning, being barely past eight, the sun was already awfully warm on her skin and she found herself already reaching for her bottle of water. Her hand found the pieces of cloth stuffed inside her bag, she stared at them before taking one and stuffing it into her back pocket. She had been given twice as much cloth, seeing as she had more ground to cover.

Knowing she was a quick walker she knew it wouldn't take her much time to cover the first fifty yards. But just like the other days she would get slower and slower. Every few minutes a yawn would escape her lips and the more it happened the more she agreed with her proposal from earlier.

"Man, I need sleep…" She muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes.

Her day was going as normally and as calmly as it should. She walked, always checking her surroundings and odd places, and nailed the yellow cloth every fifty yards. It became a routine after an hour or two. She had seen two walkers but none of them even tried to approach, that's if they even noticed her.

She wondered how long they would be allowed to stay at the farm. Rick had mentioned that Hershel told him they could stay until Carl got better and until they found Sophia. But Hershel didn't look like the kind of man who wanted new people, and strangers at that, on his land. It was something she understood. They lived a quiet life and they wanted to keep it that way. Hershel saw them as trouble even if they hadn't caused any. It wasn't their fault if Carl had been injured nor had it been their fault Sophia was lost. Hunting accident and walkers. The cause of all the sudden chaos around them.

Not forgetting the end of the world.

* * *

She sat on a log hours later, trying to catch her breath. A small group of biters were wandering in the woods and JJ had fallen nearly face to face with them. She had quickly disposed of the walker closest to her and the one right behind it but there were too many to take out and she had resorted to running. She ran way off her grid and she could have used her gun to kill them but she feared it would have brought more walkers to her location. And now she had no idea where she was. Maybe she had wandered off into someone else's grid or maybe she was just lost.

She sat there, looking around trying to figure out which way to go and which way she would go from here. This hadn't been the calm day she had hoped for. Once her breathing went back to normal she sat in silence and it was then she heard water. The sound came from behind her and was very faint but it was enough to catch her attention. She listened for a while longer before getting up on her feet, stretching away the ache from the past few days. She slowly started making her way towards the water, the sound being so faint making it hard for her to figure out where it was.

Another faint sound started attracting her attention as she slowly came to a stop. She frowned and took careful steps as the sound got closer, having no idea where it came from. _It sounds like…_

She stopped thinking when, coming out from behind bushes, a horse galloped by her in a hurry. She barely had a second to move out of its way. She watched it as it galloped away, saddle still on but no rider in sight. She looked at it until she couldn't see it anymore and that's when she started taking careful steps towards where it came from. She looked behind her from time to time, afraid the horse might have attracted unwanted attention to her presence. As she approached the area where the horse had come from she could hear the water more and more. She eventually reached a steep cliff and through the branches she could see the creek with a small spot of land nearly separating it. She took a few steps closer to the ledge, wanting to see if there was a way down from where she stood but she could only sigh when she saw none. It was when she applied pressure to the back of her right foot that she felt it.

The ground under her giving out as she tumbled and rolled down the steep cliff, coming in contact with trees, rocks and eventually the small bit of water in which she had fallen. She grabbed unto her elbow once she came to a stop, turned her head to the right and shrieked before calming down. A walker was lying face first in the dirt, a clear hole made through its head. She groaned once more at her sudden movement once she tried sitting down. She was still panting as she looked around and noticed another walker lying on its back, face smashed in. She looked up, trying to see if she could climb back up but as she did she winced, looking down at her elbow.

She cursed under her breath and with her other arm she helped herself up, groaning in pain. She had cut herself badly on her inner arm and she could see her elbow didn't look like it normally should. Confirming she had injured, very badly, her arm. She walked aimlessly around for a few seconds, analyzing her surroundings. Somebody, whether from the group or not she had no idea, had been here and had taken the walkers out.

Looking down again to her arm she reached for her wrist and started moving her forearm around, wincing, to see if she could pop it back into its original place. She had done so once to someone else and feared the pain that would come but she knew she couldn't continue with her elbow in such a state. She held her breath as she prepared herself to put it back. Closing her eyes for a second she gave it a twist and applied pressure to her elbow hearing the soft pop, biting her tongue as she suppressed a scream. She had no idea if she had done the right thing and if she had relocated the elbow properly but the pop had given her some sort of reassurance. She continued panting, still holding unto her elbow as she looked around.

Her gaze set itself unto yet another log and what was on it. She frowned, approaching it and sitting down on it. A dead and opened up squirrel was set on the log. Its inside gone. She frowned and looked around, suddenly in a panic as she slowly connected the dots. She immediately got up and looked around the fallen walkers. Upon a closer look she noticed a fresh spot of blood, as if someone laid there for a while and with an injury. She made a three-sixty and as loud as she could she attempted to see if there was any chance she'd get a response.

"Daryl!"

It was, what she thought, a long shot that one, he heard her and two, that it was him. Deep inside she knew it could be anyone but the squirrel had somehow driven the thought towards it being Daryl. Her mind and thoughts were in shambles as she stood there, injured and stuck.

"If he made it up there, I can do it too…" She told herself without much confidence. And so she started her attempt at climbing back the steep cliff. She took her absolute time, not wanting to rush it and risking falling back down. Keeping her panting as quiet as possible she continued climbing up, the growing pain in her elbow making her groan a few times. She knew that applying pressure to her left arm was a bad idea but climbing up the cliff had proven to be too hard and she unfortunately decided to use both of her arms.

And fortunately then, the climb had been more stable but sadly, more painful. Once she reached the top she let herself fall unto her back, panting.

"Come on, get up and get back to the farm." She muttered under her breath as she gave herself a boost and stood on her feet seconds later. She looked up, watching the sun through the branches before sighing and walking. Her father had taught her very little about tracking when her brother, her father and herself went hunting because he'd always say they'd never have to track with him, since he'd do it and they'd kill. With the very little knowledge about tracking she had she tried retracing her steps back to where she came face to face with the small group of walkers.

She walked nearly half an hour before a piece of yellow cloth caught her eyes. She chuckled when she saw it and ran to it. Although all very alike she could tell she'd been here earlier and she finally could retrace with ease her steps back towards the farm. Her pace had grown faster the more she saw the pieces of yellow cloth, which would lead her back to safety. Not only was safety her priority but she needed to know whom had been stuck, and injured, where she had also met the same fate. Although a name popped into her mind she needed to confirm it by seeing the person.

Holding unto her arm she started running to get to the farm as quickly as possible. Her heart was racing as a headache found the worst timing to invade her brain, making her stop dead in her tracks. With her good arm she reached and held her head still for a few seconds before tensing when she heard rustling. She looked to her left and stayed still, hearing the rustling coming from afar. The rustling seemed to be getting away from her, going into the same direction she was going in before stopping.

Keeping her distance she followed the sound and eventually found herself standing on the edge of the forest, just like she had that same morning. She took in her surroundings, noticing the distance that separated her from the house and the camp. Turning her head slightly to the left she saw four figures running towards the woods. JJ frowned for she was not completely out of the woods and her dark attire would not have alerted the group. Watching closely she was able to make out where the four of them were looking towards to and it wasn't in her direction. Her gaze slid across the land and stopped just a few meters out of the forest. A bloodied and dirtied figure she recognized as Daryl was limping his way towards them.

Her breath caught in her throat and she started walking towards them, her legs leading her body before her mind even sent the message to do so. As she grew closer, Rick's name escaped her lips as a scream and caught his attention, his head whipping around as his gaze set on her and his steps slowed down. Another scream escaping her lips telling Rick it was Daryl that stood in front of them caught the other's attention also as their gazes went from Daryl to her. Rick fully let his gaze rest upon Daryl's battered figure as she continued approaching. She couldn't hear the exchange of words between Daryl and Rick but it seemed to her that Daryl, although injured, was fine.

A small glint of light coming from the top of the camper caught her attention and as she whipped her head towards Daryl then back at the camper, the beginning of a scream was interrupted by a soft pop, making her freeze as she stared at the body now lying on the ground.

* * *

**This chapter was a long time in the making in the sense that I've struggled so hard to write it! I'm not fully satisfied but I did find some happiness once I read it again. I certainly hope you guys enjoyed it. Since TWD has come back yesterday I found my inspiration to continue and finish this chapter. **

**As usual, if you guys have any question...ask away! **

**Reviews are appreciated. Constructive reviews also are appreciated, obviously. No bashing, if you don't like, well, don't read. **

**Hope you liked it! **


	12. Chapter 11

**Well, I am back guys and I must apologize. I was in a complete lack of inspiration and as the finale got closer, well, here it is. More talking after this chapter. **

**For now, just enjoy! Not my best but hey, there's room for improvement. **

* * *

Scratching

and

Clawing

**Chapter 11**

"Stars"

"No! No!"

"Oh god! No!"

"Is he alright?!"

She remembered approaching Daryl, falling to her knees as Rick reached for his head and checking his wound. She then let herself fall back unto her behind in relief once he confirmed the injury was a graze. Shane and Rick had been quick to lift Daryl up on his feet, the latter muttering a few words before becoming quiet. She absently nodded when Rick asked her if she was fine before ordering Glenn to help her. He helped her up as they started making their way back until T-Dog spoke, holding in his hand the probable reason of why Daryl had come back in the state he did—Sophia's doll.

She still hadn't spoken a word, only nodding when being asked a simple yes or no question. Until she was sat down at the picnic table she had forgotten about her own injuries but it became clear when Glenn accidentally squeezed her arm, making him and the others around aware of her injuries. She waved the concern away but it wasn't enough for them to back off. She heard Carol call for Patricia and before JJ could try to convince the others that she could wait, Patricia was dragging her into the house.

Patricia brought her to her own room, room she previously shared with Otis. Ordering JJ to sit on the bed, she'd stated she'd be right back with supplies. Letting a sigh escape her lips, she became alert when steps, too heavy to be Patricia, approached the room. The person knocked and once said person spoke, a small smile appeared on her lips.

"What the hell happened to you out there?" Dale worried as he took two careful steps into the room.

Wincing, she answered, "Group of walkers were after me and I ended up being way off route. Not long after that, a horse scared the crap out of me and its saddle was empty. I figured something happened…I went the way it came from."

Dale nodded, pressing her to continue, "I got near a steep cliff, there was the creek right at the bottom of it. Stood to close to the edge and all I remember of the next few seconds is me falling down…" she paused, grunting as she held unto her elbow, "I'm pretty sure I fell exactly where he did too."

"He? You mean Daryl?"

She nodded, "Is he okay?"

"Let's take care of you first," Patricia said, storming inside the room as she placed the medical supplies on the bed before turning towards Dale, "you need to go now. She'll be fine." Dale quickly nodded and gave an encouraging smile before leaving, his steps becoming fainter and fainter until they disappeared.

"You're gonna have to take that shirt off." Patricia ordered as she helped JJ remove the dirty piece of clothing, leaving her with her jeans and bra on. She made a motion for JJ to turn around as she looked at her back.

"How does it look?" JJ asked after the silence started to worry her.

"Lots of cuts but none too deep. By tomorrow I wouldn't be surprised if your back was blue and purple with bruises." She informed her.

JJ chuckled, "So, I'll be sore as hell and in excruciating pain?"

Patricia gave her a small smile, "I say, sore as hell and in a lot of pain, maybe not excruciating."

"I guess I'll have to wait and see." JJ replied, making Patricia smile a bit more as she started looking at her elbow.

"I'm sure I'll hear all about it tomorrow." Patricia joked, making JJ laugh before wincing.

"You'll be the first to know." They fell silent as she slowly moved her arm around.

"Did you relocate it yourself?" Patricia questioned.

"I tried…" She paused when Patricia held her gaze, "please tell me it's fine." She begged.

"The job is halfway done…just need to push it some more." Patricia tried reassuring. "I'm gonna go and get someone to help." JJ nodded, watching as Patricia left the room once again. It didn't take long before she came back with Lori in tow, the latter closing the door behind her. Lori listened carefully as Patricia explained that she wanted her to hold JJ as still as possible while she would grab her shoulder and forearm. Before going through with it JJ asked to be given a piece of cloth or something to bite unto, seeing as when she tried relocating her elbow in the forest she had bitten her tongue to refrain herself from screaming. Patricia responded by telling Lori to take the pillowcase and not even a minute later JJ was biting down unto the pillowcase as hard as she could. She looked at Patricia and nodded, indicating to her she was ready.

"On three." JJ nodded.

Patricia looked at Lori and nodded, "One…" Lori started.

"Three!" The muffled and throaty scream that was able to escape JJ had been loud enough for someone to run to the room, asking if everything was all right. Question answered with an 'everything's fine' coming from Patricia. After a few seconds JJ removed the pillowcase from her mouth as she looked at Patricia, the latter holding an apologetic look.

"Sorry."

"It's fine…you know what's worse?" Patricia shook her head and frowned when JJ laughed. "I knew you were gonna do that."

The women joined JJ in her laughter for a few seconds before growing calm again. Patricia, along with JJ, thanked Lori as she left the room, a small smile on her lips, "Let's clean you up and check you for bites or scratches."

While being checked for scratches and bites, Maggie came by with a new change of her own clothing. Thanking Maggie, JJ was left alone to put them on as Patricia exclaimed she'd be back with a sling for her arm. Although she struggled to put the clothes on, she'd achieved to do so just as Patricia came back, holding the sling in her hand.

JJ sighed, "I never liked those." Patricia only laughed as she approached her with the sling. "How long will I have to keep it?"

"I say for a week at best. After that we'll let you remove it to do some exercises and I say a few days after that you'll be just fine." Patricia explained to a nodding and relieved JJ. "In the meantime, you're stuck with it at all times during the day and during the night maybe you'll be able to take it off."

"That's a relief…" JJ admitted.

"You'll only be able to do that if you keep your arm elevated." Patricia explained as she cleaned up.

"I'll make sure of that. Thank you, Patricia." JJ thanked the woman in front of her.

She smiled, "Just don't make it worse."

"I'll—I'll try." She sputtered, her voice reaching a high pitch. Patricia chuckled, cleaning up the room before looking back at JJ.

"Do you need anything else?" Thinking for a few seconds she started shaking her head but stopped herself.

"How's Daryl?"

"He's fine. He'll need a few days of rest, no heavy liftin' and he'll be back on his feet in no time." Patricia reassured her with a slight smile, smile verging on the edge of a smirk. JJ cocked an eyebrow at her and then stared at the ground, shaking her head.

"Thank you." Patricia nodded and left the room, leaving JJ alone. She stared at the door before giving herself a boost to get off the bed. She walked around the room and stopped in front of a mirror.

She took in her appearance. She looked, and felt, burned out to no end. The dark circles under her eyes were much more noticeable than they were before, making her eyes look heavy. Bringing her good hand up she let her fingers slide under her eyes, hoping that in some sort of magical way it would wipe her dark circles away. And her exhaustion.

All the blood had been washed off of her face and arms but the cuts were still visible on her sun-kissed skin. It would leave small scabs all over her skin but soon enough those would disappear and maybe leave a small scar. Time would tell. The clothes Maggie had brought in were just the perfect size. The pair of black jeans she'd been given were too long but JJ simply rolled the ends. She still wore the same shoes, which had been given to her by Amy back at the quarry and the shirt she now wore was a white loose shirt with black horizontal stripes. The looseness of said shirt made her look like she floated in it.

Taking a few steps back she continued looking around the room before stopping again but this time in front of the window. Still light out, the remnants of bright orange glow were now disappearing behind the forest and were soon going to leave a dark blue sky, a dark sky infested with bright stars. Stars you wouldn't normally see in the city. As surreal as the walkers were, seeing this many stars was almost as surreal for JJ. It'd taken her an apocalypse to really notice the beauty of stars in the sky. The simplicity of it was just mind-blowing.

_A small eight years old girl was rolling down a small hill with her brother, racing and hoping to get there before he could. Their father would probably reprimand them over rolling in the grass and then their mother would reprimand them for ruining their clothes. Their father would then answer by saying 'that's what washing is for.' The banter between their parents always made the children laugh and their parents would soon join their children in the laughter, realizing the childishness of their banter. _

_Reaching the bottom of the hill first, the small girl cheered and started teasing her brother about winning the race. Jealous brother simply pouted and told her to stop shoving the win in his face. She joined her brother by sitting next to him, apologizing for being mean. He simply shrugged and looked up at the sky. Lips in a thin line she simply nodded and looked around, seeing only darkness. _

"_Kids! Come back inside, we know what you've been doing!" Their dad yelled from the balcony as they looked over their shoulders. _

"_Five minutes, Daddy! Please!" A young JJ yelled out, pleading. _

"_Yeah, Dad, come on. Give us another five minutes!" Her brother pleaded along. _

"_Son, aren't you suppose to be sulking because she beat you? Again." Her brother looked at her and opened his mouth to give their father an answer but closed it a second after. _

"_Daddy, please!" She pleaded one more time as their father yelled out that they needed to be back in five minutes, giving in finally. She looked at her brother. "What does sulking mean?" _

_He put a hand on her head then ruffled her hair, "Don't ask. You won, be happy." She pouted but he jokingly glared, meaning he was serious about not asking but not serious about actually being mad. _

_Her brother and herself became quiet as they sat on the grass, enjoying the quietness and the night breeze. The summer was almost over and soon they would start school again, going back to their daily routine for another ten months. But now, they were kids content with sitting there alongside each other and enjoying the moment. To sit there and watch the stars. _

"Hey…"

Turning quickly as she was brought out of the memory she now faced Rick who stood in the doorway. A sigh escaped her lips and she gave a small smile.

"Hi." Was all she could say, "Something wrong?"

He chuckled, "Can't I just worry about some who nearly lost their life to find a little girl?"

She nodded, "Yeah, you can. Is Daryl okay?"

"He's good, grumpy but Hershel says he'll be fine." She gave him a look. "But you want to know about the shot?"

"Yes, please."

"The graze will leave a scar but he's good. He needs lots of rest."

"I doubt he'll be happy about the resting part." She noted and chuckled as Rick nodded and laughed along with her.

He took a few steps towards her, "He'll need it. So will you young lady." She rolled her eyes. "Don't even think I'll let you strain yourself even more. Both of you."

She opened her mouth to argue but closed it, "I'm not even gonna argue." She quickly ended up saying, raising one hand in defeat.

"Good." He paused as he started stepping out of the room before stopping, "Lori and Carol had the idea to cook supper for Hershel and his family. We'll be eating inside tonight."

JJ nodded, "Okay." Was all she said as she followed him out of the room, giving it one last look before going down the stairs.

Walking in front of her, Rick stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to her, "Dale told me you though you had maybe fallen where Daryl fell…where do you think that was?"

"The creek bed. There's a steep cliff…bad footing and I fell." She explained.

He frowned, "How did you end up there?"

She chuckled, "Long story short, I found a couple of walkers but there were too many so I ran. After finding a safe place I heard something and a horse just went by. I decided to follow it to see where it came from."

"That's when you found the creek bed." He stated.

"Exactly." She said, nodding to herself.

Rick lightly smiled then looked around before saying, "Well, I'm glad the both of you are fine. We'll continue the search tomorrow."

"Good." JJ said. "I'm gonna go outside for some fresh air."

"Alright, be careful." She nodded at Rick and slightly waved before making her way outside. She slowly limped to the camp and as she approached, Glenn got up and the others followed his move. She held a hand up and smiled.

"I'm fine, guys." Glenn took a few careful steps towards her and took her good arm, leading her to a chair near the small fire. "Thank you."

"What happened out there?" Glenn asked before continuing. "I mean, look at you…and Daryl!"

"We're both fine, Glenn." She tried reassuring.

Shane stepped up, "She's right, Glenn..." Shane turned to her, hands on his hip, "I mean…aside from the fact that two of our assets almost died out there, hey, they're fine…it was worth it." The sarcasm that flowed out in his words made JJ snarl at him, shaking her head. She bit the inside of her cheeks to restrain herself from talking back, knowing that what would come out would only make him angrier. After a few seconds of everyone being quiet Shane scoffed then turned his back to the group, taking a few steps towards the house.

"It was." JJ declared as Shane stopped and slowly turned around to look at her, eyebrow cocked. "Worth it." She smirked as he stood there for a few seconds before stomping his way to the house. She scoffed and muttered under her breath, "I know who I won't be looking for if someone else ever went missing."

Things with the group remained quiet afterwards, most of them going around finishing up whatever chore they had left. It took her under thirty minutes before getting bored and sick of staying put, but she knew no one would let her do anything. All she had to do was wait, wait until supper.

_It was going to be a long evening._

* * *

She'd been quiet throughout the duration of the supper, only saying 'thank you' or 'can you pass me this or that' every so often. She'd removed her sling and had almost been reprimanded by Patricia for doing so but was able to reassure her by saying she was going to put it back after supper. Patricia had reluctantly agreed. She had proposed to help clean up but under Patricia's order, and more begging on JJ's part, she was only allowed to pass the women the dishes. She had just gone back into the kitchen with the two last plates and handed them to Patricia.

"Those were the last ones." She told her before leaning against the counter.

Patricia stopped cleaning and stared at the dishes before her, "No, there's one missing."

JJ immediately frowned, "What? I don't think I for—"

"Daryl…" Carol cut in, "I brought him some earlier."

"I'll go and get it." She told them as she walked out of the kitchen.

JJ slowly climbed the stairs to where Daryl was staying. She stood in front of the door for quite a while before actually knocking and letting herself in. There wasn't much light as she first set her eyes on the tray with the empty plate and glass before finally looking up, just slightly, and seeing Daryl under the covers. All she could see of him from where she stood was a little bit of his shoulder and his bandaged-covered head. She looked at his back for a little bit then simply reached for the tray, putting everything back into place before walking towards the door.

She bit her lip then looked back at his unwavering figure, "Daryl…?" She called out very quietly, scared she might wake him up. For a second she thought he was asleep and nodded to herself. _At least I tried. _She reached for the handle and opened the door.

"Wha'?" she swiftly turned around the moment she heard his voice. She saw him reach for his wound at his side as he grunted.

"I wanted to know if you needed anything before I left…since everyone is off to sleep or will be soon." She had closed the door again and watched as he turned around, as best as he could, to look at her. She could see him squinting as he looked at her. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, which was partially true. She had taken her sling off because of discomfort and her arm looked like it had been punched multiple times with the amount of bruises visible on it.

"I'm fine," he bit his lower lip, "What the hell happened to ya anyways?" he mumbled. She blinked a few times before looking down at her arm, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

She sighed, "Nothing…"

"Ain't nothin' from where I am." She couldn't believe it. Daryl Dixon was holding a slight discussion.

"Couple of walkers, too many to kill…so I just ran. Ended up in your grid…I saw a horse run by and got curious. Followed it until the creek bed and fell where you went down." She explained.

"Ya assumed I did...again." He said, his voice so low it could count as a whisper. She nodded.

"The squirrel," she paused and looked at his reaction, "I saw the squirrel and figured it was you."

He looked at her then gave her a nod, "The doll…"

"Carol has it…" He nodded again, biting down on his lower lip, "I should leave…you need to rest."

She was about to reach for the door handle again, "Hey…" she looked at him and there he was, squinting his eyes at her again, "Ya should have somethin' to support yer arm…it's gonna help."

She smiled slightly then nodded, "Yeah." She opened the door and looked at Daryl again, "Goodnight." She left with a small smile on her face.

She walked into the kitchen and handed the tray to Carol with a small smile. She then excused herself and took her sling before leaving the kitchen, waving it at Patricia with a small smile. She put the sling back on as she walked towards the door. When she opened it she came face to face with Rick and nearly jumped. She laughed and wished him goodnight, asking if everything was alright.

"Yeah, I just need to talk to Hershel about some things." Was the answer she'd gotten.

* * *

It was late that same night that Rick came out of Hershel's house, rubbing a hand over his face, the disbelief, exhaustion and worry invading his thoughts. His doubts had been half-confirmed. With no technology there was no way to confirm but if he'd guessed right from what Hershel had told him, the signs were going to become obvious in the upcoming months.

Hershel's apology as he laid his hand upon Rick's shoulder was sincere, the dread from news such as that even bothering him although it wasn't his fault.

"_It can't be stopped. Even if we had wanted to, Rick, it just cannot." _

Hershel's words were ringing a dreadful bell in his ears as he shook his head. It was frustrating to not be able to prevent events in this already rotting world. The only reassurance Rick could get was that Hershel would try to confirm said news. The thought of any sort of confirmation scared him to death because it became something else to think of. Another thing to worry about.

Thoughts in shambles, Rick stood there. He stood on the stairs leading to Hershel's house and stared up. At the dark navy sky. Rick stood there and stared.

Stared at the stars.

* * *

**This was Chapter 11. I have written and erased so much during this chapter, it was horribly long to write. And let's not forget the lack of inspiration. Ugh, a nightmare. But here it is and I hoped you enjoyed it. **

**I apologize for my lacking English skills. I've been surrounded by a lot more French than usual and yeah, it's weird writing in English again. **

**I also want to thank everyone who follows, favorited and comments (on) this story! I love you all!**

**Hope you enjoyed! R&R! Constructive comments are very appreciated. If you don't like, well, it's simple...don't read. **

**Happy Easter everyone!**


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